%% Image and caption selected per Image Pickin' thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1310645101057667500%% Please do not change or remove without starting a new thread.%%[[quoteright:266:[[TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Togglodyte_2538.PNG]]]][[caption-width-right:266:[-[[WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot I have learned many things while I was one with the robot. Here's one: He's got an off switch right on his back.]]-] ]]

->''"Oh gee, I wonder where I should shoot 'im. I mean, this could take all of my accumulated gamer skills over the years, oh geez, could it be, ah, '''the giant glowing blue fuck-me light on his forehead!?'''"''--> -- '''The Spoony One''', ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment''%%%% One quote is sufficient. Please place additional entries on the quotes tab.

[[BossBattle Boss villains]] are usually [[NighInvulnerable invulnerable]] all over their body, with only the exception [[AchillesHeel of weak points]] [[MemeticMutation which you can attack for massive damage]].

Therefore, if you see a shiny or glowing target anywhere on the boss villain's body, chances are that's where you need to attack. Common targets are the [[BoomHeadshot head]], [[GoForTheEye eyes]] (particularly if it's a cyclops), [[CognizantLimbs hands]] (if the monster is giant), tail, [[GroinAttack groin]] (if it's male), the inside of the mouth, any built-in weapons, or a soft underbelly (including the heart, but even for living enemies, this is [[RealityIsUnrealistic much less common than it is in]] RealLife). Machines often have a red PowerCrystal or HeartDrive that practically screams "Hit me!".

If the boss is particularly large, it might require [[ColossusClimb a difficult trip to get there]]. Sometimes, the weak point may not be exposed right away, meaning it may require [[PuzzleBoss a little ingenuity]] on your part to get it out in the open. Sometimes the target will be reachable [[TacticalSuicideBoss only when the boss does a certain move]], in which AIRoulette or ArtificialStupidity must be in play to keep the game winnable. This is particularly true for {{Platform|Game}}ers, ActionAdventure games, and {{Third Person Shooter}}s.

Named for the line in the E3 2006 Creator/{{Sony}} presentation.

Rule 25 of the Main/EvilOverlordList forbids making machines with one of these, and you'd be wise to heed this rule if you wish to conquer the world.

Compare TacticalSuicideBoss; Contrast FakeWeakness. See also FantasticFragility and UntouchableUntilTagged. Compare and contrast SituationalDamageAttack; while any attack will become stronger if they hit weak point, SDA's damage is variable by itself.

----!!Examples

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]* In ''Manga/VinlandSaga'', [[spoiler:Thorkell]] has a glass jaw; one punch will knock him out cold.* In ''Anime/MazingerZ'', whenever a Mechanical Beast seems too powerful, Kouji, Sayaka, Prof. Yumi, and the rest of the scientists of the Institute examine footage of the battle to try to come up with a strategy or find a weak point. Good examples are Bikong O9, whose weak points were the horns jutting out of its head, or Jinray S1, whose weak points were the legs where its rockets were located.* In ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'', every Angel has a bright red core which is its sole weak point. Attacks on other parts of its body are usually healed almost instantly; even weapons of mass destruction can only render them immobile for a time until they eventually regenerate all damage. This is the main reason for employing the Evangelions against the Angels; only by creating an opposing AT field can the core be made vulnerable.** This also applies to the Evas themselves: destroying an Eva's core is the only way to put it down for good, anything else and the injury can be repaired/regenerated by the maintenance crew (although it's not exactly cheap to do so). Unfortunately for Asuka, SEELE eventually caught on to this and ''Rebuild 3.0'' has [[spoiler:Mark.09, an Eva that initially looks just like any other... but when Asuka tries to core it with specialized anti-AT field munition, the bullet bounces off a special armor plate placed over the core. She subsequently manages to destroy the core by jamming her Eva's ArmCannon [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice into the Mark.09's vacant entry plug socket and]] [[NoRangeLikePointBlankRange firing half a dozen shots into the core]] but [[NoSell the Eva immediately reactivates]], revealing that ''[[FakeWeakness its entire body is made up of core matter]]'', making it completely invulnerable unless the entire body is destroyed all at once]].* Inverted at least once in ''Manga/SaintSeiya''. [[TheMentor Marin]] taught [[TheHero Seiya]] that if your adversary is too strong, you attack his/her STRONG point. The theory went if you destroy his/her best weapon, finish your enemy off will be an easy task. It was played straight times, though -like in the Seiya and Shiryu fight-.* In ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'', the weak points for the [[HumongousMecha giant robots]] are balls with gloving points on the outside, quite sensibly hidden under massive layers of armor. [[spoiler:They are later revealed to be the cockpit containing their human pilots.]]* In ''Manga/{{Pretear}}'', one of the main reasons why the {{Magic Knight}}s need the MagicalGirl is that she can see the weak points for the demons they're fighting, and they can't.* The griffin dragon in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' had ridiculously small weak point (due to the weapon used, the characters didn't have a better alternative) that [[spoiler:an amnesiac Yue]] [[http://mangafox.me/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/v23/c213/9.html]] to hit with a little knife.* In ''LightNovel/ScrappedPrincess'', a Peacemaker Proxy could only be destroyed by destroying a small glowing crystal-like object that could only be revealed by powerful magic destroying the ever-regenerating slime that the proxy is made of.* The BigCreepyCrawlies of ''Anime/BlueGender'' are covered in tough armor that renders them almost immune to small arms fire, but have a small tube (referred to as "the core") usually mounted on their heads. Shoot that thing and the bug drops. The only way to kill Blue without hitting the core is to use a HumongousMecha...unless of course you're Marlene.* Happens in ''Franchise/GhostInTheShell'' all the time. When facing heavily armored opponents without proper equipment, the usual tactic is to get on its back and tear open a hatch to either fry the electronic controls or shoot the driver in the head.** It's also the preferred course of action for most villains who try to kill the Major. People try to crush her head or put a large caliber bullet through it at least five times.* ''Anime/{{Pokemon}}'': "Pikachu! The horn! [[BeamMeUpScotty Aim for the horn!]]"* Pentagram marking on the body of the demons in ''Manga/MyBalls'' are their magical weak spot.* Possibly [[DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything the on/off button hidden in]] ''Manga/{{Chobits}}''.* ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic'' had the Behemoth, a ''huge'' [[HumongousMecha AS]] which requires the Lambda Driver to even remain standing. Its armor is so thick that no weapon can damage it and the Lambda Driver deflects those shots anyway. Sousuke managed to destroy it with the Arbalest by sliding between its legs and firing into the cooling system's exhaust ports per Kaname's instructions. As expected, the Lambda Driver overheated and the Behemoth collapsed under its own weight, killing the pilot.* Done in the beginning arcs of the first and second seasons of ''Anime/DigimonAdventure'' where they free the creatures being controlled by destroying the [[MindControlDevice Mind Control Devices]].** [=VenomMyotismon=] seemed to be pretty much invincible, even to the likes of [=WarGreymon=] and [=MetalGarurumon=]. His one weakness? His [[WeaksauceWeakness crotch monster]]. The good guys exploited this, taking down the BigBad [[GroinAttack with a Terra Force blast to his happy place]]. Ouch.* ''Anime/PrincessMononoke'': Near the start of the film, [[BadassNormal Ashitaka]] slays a demon-god by shooting arrows into its glowing eyes.* Angels in ''[[LightNovel/BludgeoningAngelDokuroChan Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-chan]]'' lose their powers (and, uh, [[PottyEmergency other]] [[{{Gonk}} stuff]]) if you can manage to yank their halo off. The halo is razor-sharp, of course.* ''Nasty'' subversion in ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventure'' Part 5. One of the minor villains, Ghiaccio, is ''completely'' protected by the unbreakable ice-armor Stand, White Album. Except for a little hole in the back of the neck which allows Ghiaccio to breathe. Solution: shoot there. Easy, right? Nope. [[spoiler: Ghiaccio developed a technique called "White Album Gently Weeps" that drives the temperature around him so close to absolute zero that any solid object will ''bounce off the air''. He did this specifically to ''protect the air vent''. In order to kill him, the heroes have to drive him towards a ruined streetlamp so the air vent lands on a jutting shard of metal.]]* Subverted in ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist''. While fighting Lust, Mustang comes to the conclusion that the weak spot of a homunculus is the Philosopher's Stone, their core, and he tears it out of her body. As it turns out, this was an incorrect assumption; [[FromASingleCell Lust proceeds to grow an ENTIRE new body from the Stone.]] ''Not'' a FakeWeakness as Roy came to this conclusion all on his own.** However, ''destroying'' the stone instead of separating the homunculus from it works, but it seems the only way to do that is to release all of the souls from it, which only [[spoiler:Tim Marcoh]] has shown the ability to do.* ''Manga/{{Yaiba}}'' during the battle against Gold and Silver in the Underworld arc. [[spoiler: it doesn't really work as well as hoped]].** [[spoiler: Yaiba defeats both Orochi and Onimaru by cutting their horns]]* ''Manga/{{Holyland}}'' mentions this, as well as where ''not'' to aim for, with regards to humans from time to time. For example, a good chop to the back of the neck can stop takedown attempts quickly, but hitting the head above the cheekbones is generally a bad idea.* The crystals on the chests of the Skrugg in ''Manga/{{Heroman}}''.* ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'': In the FinalBattle, [[spoiler: when Simon and the eponymous mech fail to overpower the Anti-Spiral's HumongousMecha, he just takes the smaller Gurren Lagann mecha and boards the Anti-Spiral home planet (which is on the mecha's forehead), finishing off the Anti-Spiral himself]].* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'': It's more a blind spot but it was the only option to actually have a chance at hitting [[spoiler:Aizen]]. Subverted in that he placed several layers of protection in anticipation.* ''Anime/SailorMoon'' fifth episode had Iguara, a lizard monster in that could only be hit from a huge blinking weak spot at the base of her tail. Conveniently, Sailor Moon and Luna discover this right when the monster is holding Sailor Moon up by said tail, giving her a clean shot at it.* In ''Manga/MobileSuitCrossboneGundam'', [[TheEmpire the Jupiter Empire]] has a StoneWall called the Tortuga, with incredibly thick armor and battleship-class beam shields. In the final volume, [[GuileHero Tobia]] finally destroys it by shoving a beam saber into its shoulder joint and punching it out the other side, ripping through all the internals in between.* [[spoiler:Magical girls]] in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica'' are extremely resistant to damage, especially if they have self-healing powers; but a direct hit to [[spoiler:their brightly-glowing [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Soul Gem]]]] causes instant death. [[spoiler:This happened to Mami, Kyoko, and Madoka in a previous timeline.]] Unusual in that it applies to the protagonist.** Witches are usually obsessed with something. Mami deduced Gertud's weakness, its love for roses, from the rose and flower motif on its barrier.* In ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'', the Titans' weak point is the back of the neck. Later chapters imply that this is because [[spoiler:that's where the human "pilot" is located.]] The Armored Titan also has an additional weak point: [[spoiler:the backs of its knees, one of the few unarmored spots on its body.]]* The daemonia from ''Anime/IlSolePenetraLeIllusioni'' can only be killed by destroying their tarot card, located in a sphere in their body.* The only way to defeat a [[{{Robeast}} Zonder or Primeval Robo]] in ''Anime/GaoGaiGar'' is to remove the core and purify it. Even destroying its body completely will cause it to regenerate itself.** [[spoiler: The Z-Master]] is destroyed from the inside out.** The 11 Planetary Masters of Sol in FINAL can infinitely regenerate, but once the heroes learn the purpose of [[spoiler: the Loud G-Stones and Pisa Sol]], the Sol Masters are taken down for good.* In episode 8/ book 4 of ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'', the minotaur's skin is extremely tough, giving Bell difficultly in fighting it. However, he manages to stab its arm at one point, causing it to drop the sword it was using. [[spoiler:Bell then uses the sword to make more cuts into it, then finally stabs it again with his knife, and casts firebolts directly into its body until it explodes.]]* In ''Anime/MobileFighterGGundam'', during the finals, Domon notices that Argo's [[DishingOutDirt Gaia Crusher]] attack puts a lot of stress on the Bolt Gundam's knees. During their fight, he deliberately gets Argo to use the move on God Gundam's arm, then performs his newly-invented [[DashAttack God Field Dash]], the force overstressing Bolt Gundam's legs and making them break down.* ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha''** In ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'', [[EnemyWithout the Darkness of the Book of Darkness]] will keep regenerating FromASingleCell unless its core is destroyed. [[spoiler:That said, this will only kill it temporarily as Reinforce's corrupted repair system will bring it BackFromTheDead unless she deletes herself as well]].** In ''Anime/VividStrike'', this is how Vivio's [[RapidFireFisticuffs Accel Punch Infinity]] works, as she uses her excellent precision and accuracy to repeatedly strike her opponent at their vitals until they fall unconscious. [[spoiler:This is how Vivio beats Rinne in their rematch. While Rinne may have trained up her durability and pain tolerance to NoSell a direct punch to the face, that does little to prevent her from getting knocked out as Vivio delivers several magically enhanced strikes right at her undefended chin, jaw and temples in the span of a few seconds]].[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]* One ''ComicStrip/TheFarSide'' cartoon shows a pair of cavemen with bows looking at the body of a mammoth, apparently felled by a single arrow striking a [[GroinAttack certain spot]] on its underside; one turns to the other and says, "Maybe we should write that spot down."* In ''ComicBook/{{Megalex}}'', the Undergrounders, especially Adamâ, have an uncanny ability to hit the robotic Shock Troopers right in the control chip, through a tiny gap in their armor.* Subverted in ''Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}'' ''[[Comicbook/{{Supergirl 1982}} Volume 2]]'' #21 when Supergirl swoops down on several thugs and their leader commands his goons to shoot at her until they find her weak point because she HAS to have one. However, [[ShootingSuperman Shooting Supergirl]] works just as expected.* ComicBook/AntMan (Scott Lang) once found himself facing off against the Grizzly, a criminal who gimmick was an armored exoskeleton that made him look like a bipedal grizzly bear. Grizzly dismissed Lang as a weaking, telling him that all shrinking power was good for was letting him run away and hide. Lang said "okay!" and jumped right at the Grizzly, shrinking as he did so. When the Grizzly asked him what he was doing, he replied "hiding." Lang then ran inside Grizzly's ear and switched his helmet to Public Address Mode, and started yelling at the top of his lungs while beating the Grizzly's eardrum like a rented mule. Grizzly ended up on the ground ''crying'' while begging Lang to stop.* Emma does this to the monster in the first issue of ''ComicBook/ZodiacStarforce'', pointing out that the glowing gem seemed pretty obvious.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fan Works]]* This comes up in ''FanFic/{{Fractured}}'', a ''Franchise/MassEffect''[=/=]''StarWars''[[spoiler:[=/=]''[=Borderlands=]'']] [[MassiveMultiplayerCrossover crossover]] and its [[FanFic/SovereignGFCOrigins sequel]].** ''Revenant'' (a [[MileLongShip gigantic]] [[TheBattlestar Star Dreadnaught]]) is subjected to a weakpoint-targeting assault by smart villains in the first work. While it's not specified ''what'' they're hitting, it's made plenty clear that analysis of captured blueprints enabled them to do some precision ordinance delivery ([[Film/ANewHope Sound familiar?]])** In the sequel, it's noted that the {{Mooks}} of the AlienInvasion have specific targetable areas that should be [[MoreDakka filled with lead]]. [[spoiler:As the invaders are Flood, shoot the pink tentacle-thing that is the actual Infection Form [=For Massive Damage=].]]* Played oddly straight in the [[FanficRecs/MegaMan highly-recommended]] ''Whispers in Time'': the previous CurbStompBattle left Bass and Proto Man to attempt suicidal attacks on the awakened Zero...who has mostly shrugged them off by the time he comes to kill Mega Man and his successor. The half-healed chest-wound amounts to a weak spot that allows Rock to bring down the Red Ripper, albeit at the cost of his own life.* Interestingly, played straight in ''FanFic/ZeroShock''. Jack is [[ColossusClimb attacking a giant golem]], and so [[TalkingWeapon Derflinger]] advises him to attack its core. However, there are problems: there's no real guarantee that the core is even there. And if there is one, then there might be a chance that it explodes on destruction.-->“If it has one. Usually a sphere of some kind. Mostly stones with runes on them, squiggly little things like the one on the back of your hand. Some of the time. I think. Saw a few that had just a [[RefugeInAudacity smiley face and a name on them]]. One of them just had a rude word on it! But anyway, find the core, [[InsistentTerminology partner]]! You might need to do some searching, though, since sometimes [[ThisIsGonnaSuck there are more than one core]], sometimes there aren't [[OhCrap even any]]! Most fun of all, [[MadeOfExplodium some of them blow up]]! But one thing's for sure; the best thing is to go for the core, partner!”* In ''FanFic/KillOrBeKilled'', Yoona has a weak point of her stomach, which gets attacked three times, the first being when a glass shard is thrown at it, turning it into a weak point.-->''[[LampshadeHanging "Not my stomach again..."]]''* ''Fanfic/LastChildOfKrypton'': When Shinji was fighting Sachiel, he heard Rei whispering: “Destroy the red core”. He started to punch the core right away until it cracked.* ''Fanfic/NeonGenesisEvangelionGenocide'': When Asuka fought [[EldritchAbomination Samael]], she stabbed his core -an organ that served as its power source- to kill him.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live Action]]* In ''Franchise/StarWars'':** In ''Film/ANewHope'', the Rebels learn the Empire's Death Star can be destroyed by attacking a small thermal exhaust port, right below the main port. The exhaust port leads right to the main reactor.** The Empire learns from the first the Death Star when building the second. Instead of having one exhaust port big enough to shoot through, it has lots of tiny ones across its surface, all too small to be targeted. Unfortunately for them, by the time the Battle of Endor takes place the outer shell isn't finished, allowing the Rebels to fly starfighters straight into the reactor as soon as the planetside shield generator fails. [[{{Irony}} (Really, they should have known better from Hoth than to depend on those things....)]]** In ''Film/AttackOfTheClones'', Anakin demonstrates his tech savvy by ordering the gunship he's on to target the Techno Union Hardcell-class ships (the ones that look like and take off like real-life rocketships) right above their fuel cells.** The [[spoiler:Starkiller]] in ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' has its own vulnerable point, but said point is encrusted in armour plates and gun turrets. [[spoiler:The X-Wing attack barely scratches it until the interior is rigged with explosives, opening a hole for the local AcePilot to get in and shoot stuff until it blows up.]]* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] and then [[SubvertedTrope comically subverted]] in ''Film/GalaxyQuest''. When the other crew members suggest to Commander Taggart to try attacking the [[{{Golem}} Garignak's]] vulnerable spot, Taggart replies, "It's a rock! It doesn't have any vulnerable spots!"** It would have worked if he had some sort of rudimentary lathe.* In ''Film/StarTrekVITheUndiscoveredCountry'', Kirk kicks out the knee of an imposingly large and aggressive alien, causing it to groan terribly and collapse. Then the following conversation takes place:-->Kirk: I was lucky that thing had knees.-->Martia: That was [[GroinAttack not his knee]].-->Kirk: ...-->Martia: Not everyone keeps their reproductive organs in the same place, Captain.** But apparently everyone's genitals are a weak point that cripples them with pain when attacked.* In ''Film/StarTrekFirstContact'' during the fight with the Borg cube, Captain Picard tells the fleet to fire all their weapons at a specific spot on the cube. Data comments that his coordinates do not appear to be a weak point, but Picard knows it is due to his earlier assimilation by the Borg. It works and the cube blows up.* In ''Film/StarTrekBeyond'', [[spoiler:[[BigBad Krall's]] [[ZergRush swarm attack]] does this to the ''Enterprise'', first slicing off her warp nacelles so that she can't escape and then cutting through the "neck" between the saucer and the engineering hull, further crippling the ship]].* The laser cannons of the motherships of ''Film/IndependenceDay''.* In ''Film/IpMan 2'', Ip suggests that the Twister, who has so far taken plenty of punches to little effect, has a weak point, which pays off when his turn comes up.* ''Film/{{Dogma}}''. Cut an Angel's wings off and they become human, developing a conscience and the ability to be killed. The BigBad covertly informs a pair of banished angels of this to inspire them to set up a ThanatosGambit which is part of HIS BatmanGambit.* ''Film/BattleLosAngeles'': the squad dissect one of the alien troops (while it's still alive) in order to find its weak spot.* In ''Imitation General'', ''Glenn Ford'' devises a plan to ambush advancing German tanks. To get them to expose their weakest point (the underside) they put a crude sign saying (in supposed German) "Bridge Mined" on a small bridge. The German tank commanders don't believe it, but neither will go first and the plan works.* In ''Film/TheDarkKnightRises'', Batman went all out and opened with his strongest hit against Bane the first time, who eventually just started [[NoSell shrugging off hits.]] Bats got his back broken for his efforts. In his second fight, he's a bit wiser to Bane's condition and fights a bit smarter, going for the mask that sates Bane's constant need for inhaled analgesics. Once Bane is wracked with pain, Bats has the upper hand.* The drones from ''Film/{{Oblivion 2013}}'' have several points (cameras, energy core hatches, etc) which can be shot for massive damage. [[PlayingWithATrope Toyed]] with in that they are small targets on a highly-mobile weapons system, those who try to shoot it use big guns and try to do so when the drone's standing still (and are virtually point-blank), [[MadeOfIron and it still has a high chance of not working]].* In ''Film/TransformersDarkOfTheMoon'' the human infantry use this against Decepticon soldiers by shooting out their eyes with snipers and flanking them. ** There is a RealLife anti-tank tactic that is similar in which snipers shoot out the advanced optics on tanks, making them completely useless. * Horrifyingly in ''Film/PacificRim'', the ''{{Kaiju}}'' start to do this. Starting with the first one we see in the ActionPrologue, [[spoiler:they specifically start targeting the ''pilots'' and ''power sources'' of the Jaegers.]]* In ''Film/JurassicWorld'', the ''Indominus rex'' is extremely good at this. After the Gyrosphere's glass has been cracked by the tail of an ''Ankylosaurus'', the ''I. rex'' actually rotates the sphere 180 degrees to get at the cracked part. She then sticks a claw through that specific spot and repeatedly slams the same section into the ground, which soon shatters the whole thing. * Used in both ''Film/SherlockHolmes'' films: In the first film, Holmes observes that one of the mooks is partially deaf, a heavy drinker, and has a slight limp, and proceeds to bring him down with four attacks; one each to the ear, liver, and knee, plus one to the vocal chords to stop him screaming. In the second, Moriarty's strategy for beating Holmes in a fistfight is to repeatedly target [[spoiler:Holmes' injured shoulder]].* In ''Film/{{Godzilla 2014}}'', Franchise/{{Godzilla}}'s gills are quite sensitive and seem to be his most vulnerable area. Also, [[spoiler:the female [=MUTO=] is too heavily armoured to kill through brute force. Godzilla gets around this by forcing her jaws open and firing a torrent of [[BreathWeapon atomic breath]] down her throat, disintegrating the [=MUTO=] from inside out and [[OffWithHisHead blowing her head off]].]]* In ''Film/DawnOfThePlanetOfTheApes'', during Caesar's final fight with [[spoiler:Koba, he's still recovering from a serious wound, the result of a previous assassination attempt by Koba, making him physically weaker. Caesar's solution is to attack the crazed ape more patiently by exploiting a cut that Koba has in him and attacking that over and over.]]* Referenced in ''Film/KellysHeroes'', when fighting Tiger tanks with Shermans.--> Oddball: A Tiger's only got one weak spot, and that's it's ass. You've gotta hit it from point blank range, and you've gotta hit it from behind.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]* The Russian ''Hind'' military helicopter that Rife used as an escape vehicle in ''Literature/SnowCrash'' was made of reinforced steel, capable of shrugging off the type of small-arms fire that Rife (and the Russians who used to use them) was expecting. However, as Hiro (and incidentally, the Afghan rebels years before him) realized, the cockpit glass was just that: Glass. That's right: the Russians made an armoured helicopter that had a cockpit of completely ''non''-bulletproof glass. Hiro was never given an opportunity to demonstrate this, however, as the magnetic properties of the belly of the chopper turned out to be a much more deciding factor in bringing it down in the end.** In RealLife the cockpit is surrounded by armored titanium, aside from the aforementioned glassy bits. Reinforced steel would, in some respects, be a ''downgrade'', especially in the "light enough to take off" department.*** Also, the RealLife helicopter could take 12.7 shots to the screen with no problems. It was a very well armoured craft for such weapons.* ''Literature/TheHobbit''. The dragon Smaug was armored with "iron scales and hard gems", but as Bilbo noticed during the dragon's BadassBoast, there was a "large patch in the hollow of his left breast as bare as a snail out of its shell!" The old thrush sees this weak point too, and when Smaug attacks Laketown, it is able to communicate this weakness to Bard the Bowman, who exploits this weakness to slay him with his final - and best - arrow.* ''[[Discworld/GuardsGuards Guards! Guards!]]'' parodied ''Literature/TheHobbit'' example. The Night Watch reason that the dragon must have some kind of [[GroinAttack 'voolnerables']], and play the odds to get a MillionToOneChance of hitting it. Deliberately doing things like standing on one leg and wearing a blindfold to influence the odds, they end up at something like 998473:1. They fail. [[spoiler:Because the dragon was female. Later, they do ''accidentally'' get a million-to-one chance to counterattack.]]* Similarly, the dragon in ''Literature/{{Beowulf}}'' is killed by [[spoiler: a sword hitting a chink in the exact same place on his armor.]]* ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' uses the River Styx from Greek Mythology. In a slight change, the weak spot is required to survive the process. Percy chooses the small of his back as his weak spot, while Luke's weak spot is his left armpit.* In ''Literature/OutboundFlight'', Commander Thrawn takes out several Techno Union cruisers after realizing that a point directly above the fuel tank is vulnerable (the same one Anakin aims for in ''Film/AttackOfTheClones).''* Somewhat inverted in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' books. An alien species called the Orff are introduced, which have transparent skin so that their vital organs are apparently visible. However, Jake reasons that having their weak points visible would be an evolutionary disadvantage, and that their apparent organs must be decoys. Sure enough, when he hits the transparent section of its body, it collapses.* Creator/JohnChristopher's ''The Sword of the Spirits'' trilogy. In ''Beyond the Burning Land'' Luke fights and kills the Bayemot (a giant ameoba-like creature) by striking at its nucleus deep inside its body with a sword.* ''[[Literature/WingCommander Fleet Action]]'' has the Kilrathi getting catching onto this trope and designing a dreadnought with multiple layers of armor shells throughout the ship, specifically to eliminate conventional weak points and shrug off full salvos of anti-ship torpedoes. Too late they realized it just [[SubvertedTrope made a different kind of weak point]]... Marine boarding parties setting off massive blasts ''inside'' the ship, which would be contained by the armor and completely gut everything inside.* In the ''Literature/{{Mistborn}}'' series, Lord Ruler [[JustifiedTrope specifically created]] minions with such a weakness (removing a spike driven through their spine would kill them), because he [[spoiler:knew that there was a possibility an evil god could take control of them]], and wanted a fail-safe. The Lord Ruler himself had a similar weakness: [[spoiler: he gave himself {{Immortality}} [[ImmortalityInducer by means of]] Feruchemical bracelets, the removal of which caused RapidAging, as he could no longer hold back a thousand years of age.]]* In ''[[Literature/SixteenThirtyTwo 1634: The Baltic War]]'', although the USE Ironclads (similar to Civil War ones) are completely invulnerable to the cannonballs of the time (they bounce off the armor), [[spoiler:the Danes]] find explosives under the ships can cause serious damage, since the undersides are not metal.* In ''Literature/TheRunelords'', reavers are giant, horrible pseudo-insectile monsters covered in chitinous plates. The easiest way to kill one is to strike where a few plates come together in the roof of their mouth and leave a tiny gap where a lance, driven by sufficient strength, can penetrate to the brain. Even for powerful runelords this is a tricky endeavor, though by the end of the first series the heroes get ''a lot'' of practice at it.* In the Literature/CiaphasCain novel ''Caves of Ice'', Cain takes out an [[HumongousMecha Ork gargant]] this way: he notices an earlier attack left a great big gash on one of its legs, and orders [[MoreDakka all available]] [[BeamSpam weapons]] fired against it. Explosive munitions set off a fire in an ammo dump, which completely collapses the leg, effectively neutralizing the gargant.* ''Literature/HonorHarrington'': In this universe, the top and bottom of spaceships are protected by impenetrable gravity wedges, and so are naturally unarmored. This means that on the few occasions when a ship is caught with its wedge down, it can be destroyed with ease. And until late in the series it's impossible to generate a [[DeflectorShields "sidewall"]] to cover the openings at the front and rear of the wedge, so "up-the-kilt" and "down-the-throat" shots are also desirable.* This is how Kaladin kills a Shardbearer in ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive''. His spear can't even chip the [[PoweredArmor Shardplate]], but he realizes that the armor has a visor slit, and if you hit at just the right angle you can get a spearhead through.* ''Literature/StarCarrier'': Outside of near-''c'' {{Alpha Strike}}s and direct hits from missiles, this is the main way for a fighter to kill a capital ship, especially when you're dealing with really big targets like the converted asteroids the Turusch use, whose shields are just too strong to bring down with massed fire. In the first book Commander Allyn brings down a shield section of the Turusch flagship ''Radiant Severing'' by targeting a narrow "seam" between shield segments where the wave guides generating them are accessible.* Subverted in the ''Literature/NemesisSaga''. You would think the glowing orange spots on the {{Kaiju}}'s torsos would be their weak spots. However, puncture one and you'll be met with an explosive retaliation that scorches everything ''but'' the kaiju. The military have to be ordered not to aim for the orange parts.* Werewolves might healer faster than humans in ''Literature/UncommonAnimals'' but a blow to the head still leaves them disorientated, and more easily taken down.* In the Literature/{{Boojumverse}}, the dimension-shifting {{Eldritch Abomination}}s called Breeding Raths are covered in heavy armor. When curled into a ball, they can survive anything less than a nuclear explosion. While uncurled, however, they have one weak point which can be exploited: the ovipositor on their underbelly. * ''Literature/JourneyToChaos'': One of the functions of Annala's Death Killer bow is to grant the arrows it shoots whatever properties will hurt the target most. Then she buries the arrows in the location they will hurt the most. In ''ManaMutationMenace'', this meant aiming for one of the crystals on a particular monster breed and then using a sound wave that would disintegrated it. [[/folder]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]* ''Series/{{Angel}}:''** In the late fourth season, most of the cast is fighting [[spoiler:Skip]] and getting ''hammered''. Wesley, though every shot he's taken has bounced off the creature's armor, sees one of the few wounds it has suffered: A horn has broken off. He aims for the hole... and thanks to the MillionToOneChance, the bullet enters the head. This is lethal even to super-badass demon guys.** Vampires are NighInvulnerable except for a stake to the heart or decapitation. This is taken to its extreme when a demon from a different dimension captures a vampire and disembowels him using his organs and skin as part of a giant web/artpiece as an offering to his deity. The vampire [[AndIMustScream is still alive and begs to be just be killed already]]. The demon, upon being told what a vampire is, simply cuts the guy's tongue out and goes back to work on his offering.* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': Rip out Adam's battery, and he's a sack of meat.* In ''Series/DoctorWho'',** A cloned alien warrior race, the Sontarans, are vulnerable to attacks directed at their "Probic Vent", where they feed on energy. "The Probic Vent is no weakness because Sontarans always face the enemy." [[note]] Not that this particularly helps against the Doctor, who once disabled a Sontaran through ''applied squash''. [[/note]]** The new series Daleks come equipped with a forcefield against bullets, that is apparently weaker around their eyepiece. Many characters about to fight Daleks are told to "aim for the eyepiece." *** Old-school Daleks worked the same way, despite lacking forcefields. Their 'Dalekanium' casings would laugh off most attacks, but shooting or otherwise obscuring their eye-plunger would blind them and cause them to spin around shrieking "MY VIS-ION IS IM-PAIRED" in a most undignified manner. By the revival series, Daleks have developed a way to keep their eyepieces clear. This is evidenced when Wilf shoots one in the eye with a paint gun in "The Stolen Earth" and it specifically says "MY VIS-ION IS NOT IM-PAIRED!"*** In the Seventh Doctor story ''Remembrance of the Daleks'', in which he mentions this weakness to then-companion Ace. A short time later she takes out a Dalek by shooting it in the face with a rocket launcher. There's a reason she was the originator of the CrowningMomentOfAwesome.-->'''The Doctor:''' "You killed it!"-->'''Ace:''' "I aimed for the eyepiece."** Lampshaded in "Silence in the Library", when the Doctor describes their latest enemy.-->'''Doctor:''' Sontarans, back of the neck. Daleks, aim for the eyepiece. Vashta Nerada? Run. Just run.* [[HealingFactor Regenerators]] in ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' can be rendered "dead" if a foreign object is lodged into the base of the skull... until the object is removed.** Of course you could just decapitate them, which they can't regenerate from.** Or a bullet to the head, as Adam told us [[spoiler:and Arthur showed us.]]* ''Series/KamenRiderKiva'' featured a villain named [[ChessMotifs Rook]], an ImplacableMan who menaced the cast in both 1986 and 2008. He's only defeated when, [[spoiler:in 2008, Megumi attacks an old wound her mother Yuri put on Rook twenty-two years earlier.]]* ''Series/MightyMorphinPowerRangers'': Lord Zedd's Putties were allegedly more powerful than Rita's Putties, but they could be defeated by aiming for the giant Z insignias on their chests.* ''Series/MahouSentaiMagiranger'' features Drake, one of the two Ultimate Gods of the Infershia, who shrugs off everything thrown at him due to his armour - until Hikaru's energy attacks hits him in the back of the neck.* {{Subverted}} in an episode of ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine''. The crew of the starship ''Valiant'' discover a new, massively powerful Dominion warship. They discover a weakpoint and plan an attack accordingly. The attack goes off masterfully, causing a massive explosion... [[WorfBarrage which then dissipates and reveals the ship, still battle-worthy]]. [[spoiler: The ''Valiant'' is soon destroyed, and most of her surviving crew is killed when the Jem'Hadar decide to SinkTheLifeBoats.]]* Ghouls in ''{{Series/Supernatural}}'' have to be killed by trauma to the head.* On ''Series/{{Community}}'' Troy and Abed entertain new roommate Annie with a shadow puppet play. During the climactic battle: "Aim for the butt, it's his only weakness!"[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mythology]]* Dragons [[OurDragonsAreDifferent almost always]] have a weak spot on their neck or chest, this goes back at least as far as Fafnir. See the above examples from ''Literature/TheHobbit'' and ''Beowulf''.** And speaking about Fafnir, [[BloodBath bathing in his blood]] rendered Sigurd/Siegfried invulnerable. Apart from a spot on his shoulder where a leaf had stuck to him.** Woe to TheDragonslayer who attempts this tactic on an Eastern dragon, however - touching the "reversed scale" on their neck drives one into an UnstoppableRage, usually making it ''harder'' to kill.* The [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Greek hero]] Achilles was invulnerable everywhere but his heel (where his mom Thetis had been holding him while dunking him in the River Styx).* There is actually a whole class of legendary heroes who achieved invulnerability by almost but not quite total immersion or exposure to something except for one small spot. Achilles had his heels and Siegfried had his shoulder. The Persian Esfandyar had his eyes closed while bathing in a pool of invulnerability and the Indian Duryodhana, after bathing in the Ganges, protected his groin from his mother's gaze, which was the very thing that gave him invulnerability. You can probably guess how well that worked out for any of them.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Pinball]]* In ''VideoGame/MetroidPrimePinball'', the fastest way to defeat the Omega Pirate is to activate Missile mode, fire directly at its shoulders and kneecaps, and then strike it directly with the ball as it attempts to recover in the nearby Phazon.* The AMP Suit in ''Pinball/{{Avatar}}'' is vulnerable on a single target between its legs.* In ''VideoGame/ThePinballOfTheDead'', all of the Bosses are only vulnerable in a single spot.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Roleplay]]* ''Roleplay/DestroyTheGodmodder'': Entities from the Hostile faction always have one of these.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop RPG]]* ''TabletopGame/GammaWorld'' adventure [=GW1=] ''The Legion of Gold''. There's an amoeboid monster almost a kilometer wide in a lake. Its body can withstand 1,000 HitPoints of damage, but its nucleus can only take 50 HitPoints before it is killed. The catch: the nucleus is in the center of the lake under 150 meters of water.* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 1st Edition ''Deities and Demigods Cyclopedia''. In the Melnibonean Mythos section the demon lord Pyaray can't lose his last ten HitPoints (and be killed) until the diamond-hard pulsing blue gem in his head is crushed.* It's the only way to beat armoured opponents and bigger monsters in ''TabletopGame/TheWitcherGameOfImagination''. Dragons are extremely hard to take down, since the only body parts that can be effectively attacked are their eyes and the insides of their mouths. The skill ''Knowledge: Monsters'' is dedicated to figuring out the weak points of the monsters your character is facing.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theme Parks]]* The "Tank Ride" at Ride/ActionPark had tanks with giant targets on their backside.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]* The TropeNamer is a demonstration of ''{{Genji}}: Days of the Blade'' at E3 2006, in which Bill Rich demonstrates one of the games's boss battles--namely, the battle against the "GiantEnemyCrab" boss. After he "flips over this crab on its back," he narrates, "And you '''attack its weak point''' for '''massive damage'''."* The ''VideoGame/{{Contra}}'' series likes the red, glowing orb variety, at least in earlier games.* ''VideoGame/VirtualOn'' Operation Moongate FinalBoss Z-Gradt has one where he is grey with ultra-heavy armour most of the time, but turns gold at one point, while also deploying a truly MASSIVE cannon. During this period he is much more vulnerable, as long as you [[InstantDeathBullet aren't hit by his cannon]].** Oratorio Tangram's midboss Bradtos employs a similar method, although the shots it use when it exposes the weakness is far weaker than Z-Gradt's cannon.* The colossi in ''VideoGame/ShadowOfTheColossus'' all possess glowing sigils on their flesh that can only be revealed by sunlight reflected off the hero's magic sword. Hitting this spot is the only real way to inflict any injury to them; somewhere between half to ninety percent of the fight (depending on the boss) is exposing it/[[ColossusClimb getting there]].* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' gives us this with a variety of baddies, but the worst are the Regenerators and Iron Maidens. Scary as hell and nigh invincible, and you see the first one before you can even attack its weak point. They require a thermal scope on a sniper rifle, but always attack from close range. That means while you're trying to snipe them, they're eating, impaling, flailing at you and freaking you the hell out.** Also, after a certain point, using headshots on the regular mooks may just cause them to sprout CombatTentacles.* Regenerators and Iron Maidens have nothing on the ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' [[DemonicSpider Reapers]], giant cockroaches who not only quickly regenerate lost limbs and heads, but can shield their weak point, a squishy white egg sac. A number of other enemies have weak points that may or may not require a partner to expose and exploit, such as Popokarimu's squishy under-abdomen, Ndesu's giant plaga growth, Uroboros' glowing red clusters, and [[spoiler:Wesker's]] concealable weak spot / [[spoiler:any rocket he catches in his hands]]. And of course, who could forget the ever-trusty [[BoomHeadshot bullet to the face]]?* The bosses in the ''VideoGame/HouseOfTheDead'' series take minimal damage if hit anywhere other than a designated weak point, though blasting at that weak point really will deal out huge damage to them. However, the first boss in the first game -- Chariot -- subverts this just a tad by having its armor blown off when its health gets down to a third, allowing you to fire at the soft, pink body underneath anywhere you wish.** This is also the in-game manual's HandWave for why agents in the spinoff/parody ''Typing of the Dead'' are running around wearing keyboard-guns - the typing feeds into an autotargeting mechanism which eliminates all risk of friendly fire and automatically discovers and isolates weak spots in targets.* ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}}'':** In general, the series uses this trope liberally. Just about the only boss that ''isn't'' hit for massive damage is [[ThatOneBoss Ridley]], with whom the only strategy is "make him dead before he makes you dead". And even then it only applies sometimes- Meta-Ridley always has at least one form that can't be damaged unless you aim for his torso. Omega Pirate from ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' inverts this: He has no specific weak spots, but before you can harm him you have to first blast away his armour (so in essence you attack his strong points).** Hilariously in the first ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' game, there's a rock monster boss that looks almost exactly like the one in ''Film/GalaxyQuest''. You must use the thermal visor in order to find his weak spot (a random piece of rock that changes after he takes enough damage).* The bosses in the original ''VideoGame/RType'' used this system, and the third level took it to extremes by featuring just [[BattleshipRaid a single, giant enemy]] with a number of weak points; the player had to pilot his ship around the boss itself, blowing up each part in turn.* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger''** Late in the game there is a boss called the Son of the Sun, who is a giant eyeball surrounded by a ring of flames. You can only attack the surrounding flames, and all but one will take no damage and counterattack when hit. The one that you can hit to actually damage the boss looks exactly the same as the others, and is only identifiable through trial-and-error. To make this worse, it uses an attack called "Roulette Shuffle" that spins the flames around so the one you attack is in a completely different area.** Subverted by ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'''s final boss, Lavos, who appears to be a humanoid figure flanked by [[AttackDrone biological orbs]]. It turns out that [[spoiler:the "Lavos Core" is actually one of the orbs, while the humanoid is just a drone that regenerates like the other orb]]. Many parties die before finally discovering this crucial fact.* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIX'' features normal {{Mook}}s that work like this. For example, {{Random Encounter}}s in Cleyra include sand-elementals where you actively need to target a little, pink heart-like part of it. Not realizing this fast enough can result in throwing away lots of HP and mana in battle against the main body of the {{Mook}}.* The ''VideoGame/StarFox'' series is fond of this, often in the obviously-glowing-red variation. Of particular note is one boss in ''Star Fox Command'' whose weak point is essentially a giant glowing ''butt''. The enemy forces are mainly apes and monkeys, you see, and this boss is a HumongousMecha baboon.** Peppy basically makes this trope. "Aim for his back!" "Aim for the open spot!" "Maybe it's an arm! Aim for the arm!" "Shoot the tentacles to open the core!"** The series also features some subversions, though. Andross is the eye type, but shooting his eyes only stuns him briefly. To defeat him, the player has to first shoot his hands off, then shoot the head anywhere BUT the eyes. On the right route, he then reveals his true form: [[OneWingedAngel a giant brain with detachable eyeballs that shoot lasers]], whose sole weak spot is the cerebellum.* Almost all of the large Grigori bosses in ''VideoGame/StarOceanTheLastHope'' have a glowing core that needs to be struck in order to cause anything more then ScratchDamage.* ''VideoGame/LostPlanet'' takes this to the extreme. ''Every single'' Akrid--from the weakest cannon fodder all the way up to the BonusBoss--has orange weak points. It's worth noting that although Akrid make up a significant portion of the enemies in the single-player game, they're not the only ones; humans ([[BoomHeadshot the head]]) and [[AMechByAnyOtherName Vital Suits]] ([[InTheBack the engine]] or the kneecaps) also have them.* ''VideoGame/{{Killer 7}}''** The majority of the Heaven's Smiles have a glowing yellow spot somewhere on their body. Shooting this kills them instantly and grants you far more blood (used to heal and for power-ups) than gunning them down the standard way. Heaven's Smiles without the yellow spot have similar vulnerabilities -- the enlarged part of a Phantom Smile, the eye of a Giant Smile, the shirt on an Ulmeyda Smile, the cockpit on the part of it's body that looks like a jet that it uses to fly around...** Most comical is the Ceramic smile boss, a big hulking monster of a smile that runs fairly quickly. Just shoot his heart through the convenient hole in his chest once. At least he has the sense to turn tail and run when you have your gun pointed at him.* Traditionally, the only way to harm Dracula's first form in the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' games is to hit him in the head.** Later on in ''VideoGame/CastlevaniaOrderOfEcclesia'', there is the giant mecha-centaur demon knight (well, at least it's original) called Eligor. To kill him, you have to attack his eyeball, which is for some reason on the back of his head. The only way to actually be able to damage him is to get onto his back, and getting there requires destroying a number of glowing red orbs on his knees first.* In a few boss battles in ''VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves'', particularly those fought in Sly's biplane or with Dimitri's speargun, the weak point is Dr. M, who is connected to the boss monster via the massive plug in his head.* The final boss of ''VideoGame/{{Doom}} 2'', the Icon of Sin, has you firing rockets into the brain of the Icon. When using the idclip cheat, however, you can [[EasterEgg go into the brain and see...]] John Romero's severed head impaled on a stick. Also, if you [[SubliminalSeduction reverse what the demon chants]] at the start of the battle, you'll hear the message "To win the game you must kill me, John Romero!"* In ''VideoGame/ThiefIITheMetalAge'', both the larger and smaller versions of the "Children of Karras" have a glowing-red coal hatch on the rear of their boilers. Unless you have an implausibly large amount of fire arrows or explosive mines available, hitting that coal hatch with water arrows is the only way in the game to disable one. Humorously, this is {{Lampshaded}} in-game by an engineer's report asking what the hell the designer was thinking leaving the boiler so exposed like that, especially in a world where Water Arrows are well-known tools, and saying they really need to fix that ASAP.* In ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'':** [[BackStab Hitting an enemy in the back with the knife]] as a Spy.** [[NotSoDifferent Hitting an enemy in the back with]] fire from the Pyro's Backburner flamethower.** [[BoomHeadshot Shooting an enemy in the head]] with (and only with) the Sniper's sniper rifle.*** [[NotSoDifferent Or the]] [[RunningGag Spy's]] [[HandCannon Ambassador]].* The "headshot=death" rule has become more-or-less universal, providing players with an intuitive, sensible advanced technique for dispatching foes. Famously, completing the ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' games on the punishing "Legendary" difficulty requires a mastery of it.** This was avoided, though, in ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' (for every class besides Sniper, anyway), which deliberately removed them (and replaced them with more-or-less random criticals) because the developers felt that headshots rewarded obsessive players at the expense of casual gamers and were unfriendly to team play.** Also avoided in ''VideoGame/PlanetSide''. The in-universe justification is apparently that the Auraxian factions were smart enough to give their soldiers durable enough helmets to take your average rifle round without causing more damage than a body-shot. The sniper rifle takes off 75% of your average armored grunt's HP in one shot no matter where you hit, anyway. [[note]]The ''real'' reason? While the developers were working on the game, they played a lot of ''VideoGame/{{Counter-Strike}}'' and ''VideoGame/UnrealTournament'' as "research." Their boss apparently sucked at both of them, and after getting killed hundreds upon hundreds of times with headshots, he insisted that there be no headshots in their game.[[/note]]** On the flip side, ''Franchise/MetalGear Online'' (at least the version packaged with [=MGS4)=] has an in-game option in which players hosting a match can decide to enable a "Headshots Only" mode, in which you're penalized if you shoot an opposing player anywhere but their head. And considering just how headshot-unfriendly the game's controls are to begin with...* The ''VideoGame/{{MDK}}'' games.* Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/ConkersBadFurDay''. One Terminator-like robot boss sports a huge flashing red button on his back reading "Do Not Push." The next boss combines this (hitting him in his vulnerable spot is literally the only way to hurt him) with a rather nasty form of GroinAttack (crushing his "vulnerables" between a pair of bricks).** Nearly all the bosses have this -- Mecha-teddy has the gigantic yellow hole that opens up when you shoot his possessed dolly, the big caveman can only be dealt with by using your velociraptor to headbutt his groin, and then bite his ass....* Inverted in ''VideoGame/MegaManZX''. The eight main bosses have a weak point, but hitting them there damages the biometal you are trying to take from them, resulting in costly repairs after the fight, or a rematch. The ideal outcome is to [[CherryTapping defeat them ''without ever hitting the weak spot'']]. A few bosses actually have annoyingly easy-to-hit weaknesses.** Played straight in its predecessor, ''VideoGame/MegaManZero'' though, with Omega. In the aforementioned Boss' first form, he's only vulnerable on the black portion of his torso. For his OneWingedAngel, the target is raised, with the horn of the central head as the target.** ''ZX Advent'' plays this straight enough, since Model A copies the bosses' DNA at the same quality no matter how hard you bang on weak points.*** Interesting to note that Model H can use the lower screen to display the enemy's/boss' weak point and LifeMeter (the latter is pretty much useless against bosses who show it anyway though). You can figure out the bosses' weak points even without Model H, as they make a special and different sound when you hit them.** In the pre-predecessor ''VideoGame/MegaManX'', expect the GiantEnemyCrab and all variants to have its head be the weakness. That also applies to the nearly omnipresent BigBad Sigma, who most often has his head or the gem on his forehead being the weakness.*** It's however averted with X8's FinalBoss [[spoiler: Lumine]], who despite having an obvious crystal sticking out his ''chest'', is vulnerable to hits on his actual body whenever his shield isn't up.*** There's another example in ''VideoGame/MegaManMaverickHunterX'', particularly in [[spoiler:Day of ∑]] when a mechaniloid went berserk. Its generator is its weak point. Accordingly... -->[[spoiler:'''Chill Penguin]]:''' Shoot the generator X! Shoot the generator! ** Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends'', where the villains complain whenever the mooks expose a weakpoint in their indestructable vehicle order to make a rear-facing attack.** Played straight in X7, where your mission control tells you "The head is his weak point, aim for the head!" on one of the Mavericks. EGM poked fun at this by that image being screen capped and the reviewer saying "really, I never would have tried that on my own".* Attempted justification in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'': the HumongousMecha's designer was an eccentric soul who felt that it needed a "personality flaw" to make it complete. Therefore the only part of the mecha which isn't practically invincible is the target-shaped box of sensors sticking off the side, without which the pilot is deaf and blind. This forces the pilot to open up the cockpit in order to see what he is doing, leaving the controls vulnerable to your missiles. Strangely, the weakest part of the cockpit is not [[MadeOfIron the guy sitting in it]].** In ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid3'' this is justified: the back of the [[HumongousMecha Walking Behemoth]] Shagohod falls off [[spoiler: when you attempt to destroy it by blowing up a bridge from underneath it]] and the only part left unarmored is the back of the cockpit, which was never to be exposed. Shooting the threads with the RPG-7 also helps considerably.* Beating Vamp is made a lot easier in ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid2'' if you shoot for the [[GroinAttack crotch]].* In ''VideoGame/HalfLife1'', [[PuzzleBoss Nihilanth]]. Though not exactly with single shot.* [=GLaDOS=] in ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' is [[spoiler: [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment a massive supercomputer taking up an entire room... but she also happens to have a massive Venus-like structure hanging out from the roof... with four glowing orbs on it (which are also massive).]] Hmmm... oh look, it's your old pal, the rocket turret!]]** Subverted [[spoiler: in that the first orb is actually her [[MoralityChip morality core]]. [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment It was installed to stop her from filling the room with a deadly neurotoxin, after which she began flooding the enrichment center with a deadly neurotoxin. After telling you about the deadly neurotoxins, which the]] [[MoralityChip Morality Core]] [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment was installed to prevent her from filling the room up with, it is time to cue...]] [[ExactTimeToFailure The blinking timer!]] [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment (Which is an indication of how much time is left before she fills the room with a deadly neurotoxin.)]]]]** In the sequel, [[spoiler: Wheatley]] tries to protect himself with shields. Too bad you have a portal gun.* Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/HeavenlySword'', where Kai threatens a guard with a very painful GroinAttack if he doesn't cough up the password to the armory where the titular sword is.* The enemy ships in ''VideoGame/{{Einhander}}'', aside from small-fighter type cannon fodder, were usually segmented. Shooting the main body of the ship would destroy it eventually, but simply destroying the cockpit and (in some ships) the engines would cause the ship to crash and explode.** Hint: Shoot the part that has a green glowing thing (such as a visor) on it. There's a very high chance that's the weak point.* ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}}'': "Shoot the Core!"* King Hippo in ''VideoGame/PunchOut'' has two weak points: his belly-button and the back of his throat. And you can't get to either right away.** In ''VideoGame/PunchOut Wii'''s Title Defense mode, he covers up said belly button with a manhole. [[spoiler:This turns out to be a DoubleSubversion of this trope, as the way to beat him is to knock off said manhole and expose his weak point.]]** All fighters are obviously vulnerable to a hard right hook, but Glass Joe is especially weak, getting knocked out by one punch.* It's hard to notice, but this is actually subverted in the PC version of ''FarCry''. The large, glowing green orbs in the chests of the rocket launcher-wielding [[GiantMook Giant Mooks]] are actually ''part of their armor'', and they actually take ''less'' damage when shot there. Their real weak point is, common-sensibly enough, their head.** Played straight, but in a fairly tongue-in-cheek manner, for the final boss. He's a super-mutant with loads of health, but he can be killed in less than a second by shooting him in the crotch (something of an Easter egg, as there is no in-game indication that shooting him there would have that effect).* Beowulf from ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 3'' can be struck in his eye for greater damage than attacking the rest of his body. If Dante or Vergil lowers his health to the points where he TurnsRed by hitting the eye, Beowulf will stumble and give a few more vital seconds for dealing damage. Cerberus from the same takes more damage from getting hit on either of his three heads. The Leviathan Heartcore, also from the same, needs to have its two accompanying "organs" destroyed before it opens up and makes itself vulnerable.** In the original, Phantom could only be hurt by strikes to the face (high damage, but that's where he shoots fireballs from), and back (less damage, but less risk). Nightmare had a weakpoint that you had to expose by first solidifying it, then smashing the glowy circle.* The final boss in ''VideoGame/{{Descent}} 2'' is covered by a force field in the front, and thus can only be hit from the rear. Worse, unless you happen to be cloaked, he will always turn to face you. You're meant to detonate a multi-warhead missile on a wall behind him, causing the secondary warheads to hit his weak spot. Didn't stockpile enough Earthshaker missiles ahead of time? You're screwed.** It ''is'' possible to [[ChasingYourTail slide around behind him]] if you get in close, but it's still very tough and only nets you a split-second chance at hitting the weak spot. Afterburners can help with this too.* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'' has plenty of examples that aren't just the usual "shoot head for max damage" ones:** Hunters have strong armor covering most of their bodies. The weak points are the back, which is bigger and generally easier to go after, especially on co-op, and under the chin, which is much harder to hit but has the advantage of being accessible while they're facing you. ** If you shoot the infection form inside the Flood combat forms (they're located in the part of the chest where the sensory tentacles are sticking out), they take more damage, or die in one hit if you have the right weapon.** The [[SpiderTank Scarab]]'s weak point is a reactor core hidden in the center of its platform. Common strategies include using a aerial vehicle (or in the case of the Scarab in New Mombasa in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 2}}'', a ledge above it) to land on its platform to get to the reactor core, or in ''VideoGame/{{Halo 3}}'', firing at its legs until it lowers itself so [[ColossusClimb it can be climbed]].** Some vehicles have weak spots that you can hit for extra damage, with examples including the Ghost's left-side fuel cell and the Wraith's rear-end exhaust port. ** In ''VideoGame/Halo5Guardians'', the Promethean [[BossInMookClothing Knights]] and [[EliteMooks Soldiers]], as well as [[RecurringBoss the Warden Eternal]], will expose big glowing weak spots (or in the Warden's case, a big dark one) once you knock off enough of their armor.** Also from ''Halo 5'', the Grunt [[MiniMecha Goblin]] has weak spots on its front and back that can be exposed if you knock off the armor covering them.* Although nearly all bosses in ''VideoGame/RocketKnightAdventures'' (with the exception of Axel Gear) follow this trope, the third boss in the first game displays an interesting variant. The boss is a fish-shaped submarine-like vehicle partially submerged in lava, and the vehicle itself is completely invulnerable. The only way to deal damage is to wait until the rare occasions when the pilot is exposed and attack ''him''.* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':** The anime's issues with NewPowersAsThePlotDemands aside, Parasect doesn't have just a double weakness to Flying and Fire, but in Generation IV, potentially a ''triple'' weakness to Fire if it has the Dry Skin ability.** [[OneHitpointWonder Shedinja]] takes it even further, with its special ability. Only super-effective attacks or indirect damage (poison, weather) will work at all, but it's a [[TheLawOfDiminishingDefensiveEffort guaranteed KO]].* Tanks in the ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}}'' games take realistic damage; shooting rockets to the front of the tank does minimal damage, more damage to the sides, and the most damage to the back. Smart players with this knowledge will always try to flank around to the back of the tank rather than take it head on.** The battlewalkers in ''VideoGame/Battlefield2142'' can shrug off most everything short of a suicidal transport pilot. However, there is a flimsy vent underneath that potentially allows someone with a pistol to inflict massive damage. The Titan supercarriers present a similar situation: they can only be damaged from outside by BLOC-3 missiles, but can be infiltrated to get to its creamy nuclear core.* Almost every enemy you encounter in ''Franchise/DeadSpace'', although how you are supposed to hit them is a bit different. Headshots are a joke in this game, instead you must shoot their limbs (hands, legs, tails, tentacles). The big ones even have their joints explicitly shown to the players. Exploders even have ''two'' weak points: their explosive pustule and its joint with the shoulder. Bosses and mini-bosses have big yellowish pustules that you should obviously know what to do with them. The "almost" part in this case are the Swarmers, which die in one hit no matter where you hit them, and Dividers, which do not have a weak point.** New enemies in ''VideoGame/DeadSpaceExtraction'' still follow this trend. Some of them are untransformed humans, and they too have a weak spot: [[BoomHeadshot the head]], obviously.* Justified in ''VideoGame/ValkyriaChronicles''. The AppliedPhlebotinum powered tanks generate huge amounts of waste heat, and need radiators to avert a catastrophic heat explosion. Aim for the radiators, and anti-tank Lances will likely take them down in a single blow - two if it's a heavy tank. Even otherwise useless anti-infantry firearms will deal ScratchDamage to the radiator. Only two tanks in the entire game are capable of hiding their radiators - one of which only needs to expose them after firing the main cannon, one of which needs constant supporting repairs from nearby allied bases.** It's also possible to headshot infantry units for greater damage at the cost of lower accuracy versus hitting center mass. While both of these apply toward both ally and enemy forces, enemies will never intentionally target the head (while they'll constantly attempt to exploit the tank radiator for all it's worth).* Taken to its logical extreme in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter''. Although no boss in the game has a specific weak point, all of them have parts that are weaker or stronger against player attack. Further, depending on the method of attack used, the weak points may be different (some parts are weak against blunt force but resistant to damage from edged weapons, for instance). Each part of their body also takes a varying amount of damage from the different elements. Properly exploiting these weaknesses can easily make the difference between a hunt taking close to the usual time limit of 50 minutes or less than half that.* ''VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders: the Second Runner'' does this at the BattleshipRaid. Jehuty has to destroy them, and can go about this in a few ways: find and destroy every destructible piece of paneling and weapon on the ships, use the Vector Cannon to hit their generators, or (related to the last one) line up the Vector Cannon and fire at them to blow them up with just sheer damage. To be fair, the generators are protected by a shield of compressed space, and normal weapons do no damage to them; if you can hit the generators, you've got enough firepower to take down the ship through pure damage anyway.* In the ''VideoGame/{{Onimusha}}'' games, scoring a counter-hit on an enemy during a narrow window of opportunity will have the screen flash bright yellow as your current character (usually) delivers a lunging slash. This will instantly destroy {{Mooks}} and inflict Massive Damage against Boss characters, and in the case of characters equipped with an [[AncestralWeapon Ogre Gauntlet]] result in a much higher Soul payoff than normal.* Tank crews in the World War II MMOFPS ''Battleground Europe'' (a.k.a. ''VideoGame/WorldWarIIOnline'') pretty much have to know the weaknesses of every tank type they might possibly come up against, because the game tries to realistically model armor penetration. Trying to pound away at the front armor of a Panzer MIGHT work, but it's far less dangerous to aim for exhaust vents, the cupola, or anything else with thin armor. If you are driving a vehicle (or pushing an anti-tank gun) with small caliber shells, this might be the only way you will ever damage them at all. Then, of course, your gunner could very well get shot in the neck by an infantryman because you forgot to close the hatch.** The same occurs in ''VideoGame/WorldOfTanks''.** In ''VideoGame/WarThunder'' Ground Forces, aiming for specific parts of the tanks is essential. This includes the view slits for the crew, ammo or fuel storage for a quick kill, but also the engine, transmission (getting stuck in reverse) tracks, or the turret to keep the enemy tank from firing or escaping. * Dark Maker HumongousMecha in ''VideoGame/JakAndDaxter'' have multiple weakspots on their limbs, each of which can take a moderate amount of damage, then becomes invulnerable. If you don't notice the targeting reticules around the hips and knees, you can spend half an hour shooting them in the head.* ''AceCombat'': "Its only weak point is in the front air intake. You'll have to attack it head on to take down Morgan."* Every boss in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles: Ring of Fates'' has a glowing red crystal that does more damage than hitting the rest of the boss.** These glowing red weak spots are also present in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles: Echoes of Time'' on most bosses.** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV Advance'' makes fun of the Trope Naming quote in its description of the Gladiator's Finisher command. Then again, they made fun of a lot of things.* Every ''VideoGame/{{Fraxy}}'' boss has a weakpoint -- it just depends on how big it is and how many there are!* The Caterpillar in ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice'' can only be damaged by attacking a glowy soft spot on its underbelly.* If ever a ''Franchise/TheLegendOfZelda'' game appears in which not a ''single'' boss uses this, it will be proof that the developers have been kidnapped and are being held hostage somewhere. Ever since the first boss of the first game (which was only vulnerable on its horn), its been making use of this. It especially likes the GoForTheEye variant, and [[PuzzleBoss making you figure out how to expose said weak point.]]** The Moldorm's tail in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaLinksAwakening''.** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' was chock full of this. Gohma had her eye, Barinade had his soft skin under his jellyfish armor, Morpha had its nucleus, Bongo Bongo had its eye (which was exposed once you attacked both of its other weak points), and Ganon had his bright blue tail.** There's a particularly fun (if easy) variant in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaPhantomHourglass'' involving whacking a seesaw with the hammer in order to reach the giant golem Eox's weak point.** The eyes of Diababa, Morpheel and Armogohma, the jewel on Fyrus's head, the Twilight Sword in Stallord's head, and the open point in Argorok's armor (on its back), the third battle with Zant has his shoes, and Beast Ganon had his underbelly, all from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess''.*** Beast Ganon's weakness is caused by a wound on his stomach which extends to his humanoid form.** Various bosses and enemies use this in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword'', often with the added twist of only being vulnerable from a certain angle, requiring the player to time and angle their attack ''just'' right in order to actually hit it.* The Factory boss in ''VideoGame/BeyondGoodAndEvil'' is only vulnerable at its "core," which it protects with a metal grate. Luckily, its legs aren't so well-protected, and if you UseYourHead, figuring out how to knock him over isn't so tough.* The third boss in ''VideoGame/SphinxAndTheCursedMummy'' has a rather obvious "heart lid" on its chest to attack, but it keeps it closed most of the time. (And anyway, it's out of the reach of your sword anyway.) However, you are capable of ''throwing'' things that high... and indeed, you have to throw rocks at him to make him expose his weak point. Harder than it sounds--he's ''reeeeaally'' fast, and you when burdened by a rock? Not so much.* Numerous bosses in ''VideoGame/{{Psychonauts}}'' are only truly vulnerable at one point on their body. The most notable is probably TheButcher -- the only part of his ''massive'' body that's vulnerable is his head, and even then, it's too high to reach normally ''or'' hit with ranged attacks. In round one, you can climb up his arms when he does [[TacticalSuicideBoss a certain attack]], but in round two, you have to throw telekinetic projectiles at him when he does the same attack. And he's ''much'' faster now.* The first boss from ''VideoGame/StarFoxAdventures'' can be attacked, but you can't truly ''harm'' him not matter how much you whack his tail with a stick. In fact, he's so tough, he can only be hurt from within. [[FeedItABomb Feed him explosives?]] No! Do enough damage so he gets annoyed and tries to eat you, silly!** There's a normal, area-specific enemy that can only be hurt on a spot on its back. Circle-strafe all you want; it'll keep up. You have to [[spoiler:hit it with a Ground Quake]] to make it turn around so you can hit it on its back.* The ''VideoGame/MechWarrior'' games have this all over the place. All mechs (including your own) have much weaker armor in the rear than they do in front; this doesn't really matter much when you're in an assault mech picking off light ones, since they pretty much die like flies either way. However, when ''you'' are in a small/medium mech, or a big one that's taken a lot of damage, and the radar cheerfully bleeps and tells you an enemy 100-ton behemoth is heading your way, the rear weak spot suddenly becomes a lot more important, because targeting it is the only way (barring sheer luck with critical strikes or a particularly incompetent enemy) to survive the encounter.** Since they usually always face you, the leg are also always weak points on a mech, destroying them also permit to salvage the mech, very useful to capture the heavy armed 100-ton battlemech. Putting together enough precision weapons like lasers, autocannons, Gauss guns, or missiles with targeting computers to quickly destroy their leg is a damn good tactic.** The "weaker rear armor" bit is taken straight from the [[TabletopGame/BattleTech board game]]; the torso locations can each only have so much armor altogether and attacks coming in through will strike the front, so that's the side that gets the lion's share of the armor and the rear is left comparatively vulnerable to a determined attacker who can get there. Beyond that, actual aimed shots tend to be fairly rare because even with an advanced targeting computer success at hitting the chosen spot isn't guaranteed ''and'' the overall chance to hit in the first place goes down, and without try are pretty much limited to immobile targets and/or the occasional melee attack.** The weakest part of any 'Mech is the head (aka the cockpit), which has such low armor that one good hit will probably destroy it instantly. The issue here is that the head is ''really'' small and damned near impossible to deliberately hit on a moving 'Mech, so headshots tend to be the result of pure luck or an ''extremely'' stupid pilot sitting completely still and giving you the chance to line up such a shot.* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure'':** All forms of Chaos (except 6 which requires that you get him into a specific state... of matter) require that you attack his brain. This is fairly easy the first two times with Chaos 0, and then he starts jumping around on lampposts and punching at you, and you have to wait until he comes down, at which point he's easy again. 2 makes you wait until he misses a punch and freezes in place a couple of seconds, while 4 has to surface and float in place before you can attack him there. Perfect pretty much makes you have a minimum speed so that when you get to him, you spiral up the inside and hit his brain. If you're not going fast enough, you're just ejected and have to find him again. Actually, you could almost make a case for 6's weak spot being Froggy, at least in Big's version: once Big lands him, he wins.** The Egg vehicles have the cockpit as the weak point. The Hornet stays at bay and shoots small missiles at you, then tries to drill you into the ground. If he misses, there's your chance. The Walker makes you play Simon Says (sort of) with its ankle joints; one, two, or three of the feet stomp, sending out a shockwave which you want to avoid, but also making that joint vulnerable to brief malfunction if you jump near it. If all the glowing joints malfunction, that brings the cockpit down for semi-easy pickings. (You can hit its underside this time.) The Viper, the first three times, from time to time shows its belly, trying to lure Sonic in with a path to the cockpit while it's charging its (other) laser, which it will fire if you don't hit the cockpit in time. Then you have to wait until it yo-yos spinning spiked discs at you so you can jump on one and use it to reach Eggman.** Zero, whom Amy is fleeing throughout her stages, is only vulnerable once Amy knocks him into the electric fencing surrounding the boss stage. This causes him to flip his top, exposing a button which you then attack.* ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'':** Boss GUN vehicles, much like Egg vehicles, are only vulnerable in the cockpit. How easy they are to get to varies.** The Biolizard has a tank on its back which you have to attack. To reach it, however, you have to wait until it's tired from chomping at you and shooting balls of dark energy at you. Then you can grind up the rail that begins at its mouth, and then you can attack.** The Finalhazard. "Aim for the red swelling area to damage him!"* ''VideoGame/SonicHeroes'' has a notable Egg boss where it's weak point ''ISN'T'' the cockpit (it has none) - the Egg Emperor. It's weak point is the glowing orb in the middle of it's body with the slightly-hard-to-see-during-gameplay picture of Eggman on it. However, it's smart enough to protect itself with a giant shield. You have to either destroy the shield with a Power character, or temporarily paralyze the shield-arm with Thunder Shoot in order to do any damage.* Bosses in the ''VideoGame/{{Parodius}}'' series almost always have a weak point, which the game helpfully points out to you. One boss in ''Sexy Parodius'' is a huge {{tanuki}}, complete with arrows telling you [[GroinAttack what his weak point]] ''[[GroinAttack isn't]]''.* Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando'' regarding spider droids:-->'''CT-01/425:''' Its durasteel plating is rated for starship hulls and is nearly invulnerable to small arms fire. Only its optical cluster, the red orb on its abdomen, is unshielded and vulnerable.\\'''Scorch:''' In other words, shoot the big red spot.* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' features a quest in which you must defeat undead that are unkillable unless you destroy the crystals that keep them moving. These crystals become vulnerable only when the undead in question has taken enough damage that it would otherwise be defeated. (If you ''don't'' destroy the crystal then the undead, merely stunned instead of defeated, snaps out of it and resumes attacking even though it has 0 health.** This resulted in some hilarious griefing potential early in the game's run where the designers forgot to put a "leash" on the crystal-bound undead like most enemies have, forcing them to return to their normal area when lured too far away. Since they didn't have this, some players would pull the invincible undead all the way to a town or a major city, where they would slowly but inexorably murder any opponent, no matter how statistically outclassed they should have been. And the only way to stop it would either be a server reset or luring the undead all the way back to their crystal.** Raigonn, the final boss of the Gate of the Setting Sun dungeon, is a slightly more traditional example, where players need to attack and destroy its weak spot - specifically named that, no less! - in order to break its armour before they can kill it.* ''VideoGame/FreeSpace''** ''VideoGame/FreeSpace2'' features alien communication nodes with a giant crystal in the center. Blowing up the crystal causes the thing to self destruct in a massive explosion. Somewhat subverted in that these devices are far behind enemy lines, and were not expected to be attacked.** In the original, the ''Lucifer'' had a reactor be destroyed, which would then blow up the ship. Like with the above example however, these reactors were never expected to be vulnerable -- they powered off the massive energy shielding that normally renders the ''Lucifer'' completely impervious.* ''VideoGame/LostKingdoms II'' has [[spoiler:The God of Harmony]]. It's easily ThatOneBoss unless you know what cards can cripple and/or kill it outright:** Your first fight can be ended with Wraith (which can be missed since the Ghoul card can be missed if you progress too much), Sandworm's Sandstorm or the Lizardman combo since it doesn't flinch from an attack, just like a Petrified target.** The second fight [[spoiler:which is the final boss]] can end with Vampire's Death Spell or a properly placed Catapult.* ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiSuperstarSaga Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga]]'' has Cackletta as the final boss, in smokey ghostly spirit form. You have to take down her hands and her head for her to expose her heart, which is her weak point.** Earlier against Queen Bean you have to attack her arms to deflate them (She's HUGELY muscular) and to make her lose her crown on her head, cause you know, spikes hurt when jumping on it.** Even more drawn out in the final battle of [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiPartnersInTime Partners in Time]], the second in the series. You have to attack her tentacle legs, which enables you to attack the crown which enables you to attack the boss herself. Oh, and the crown regenerates after a while, rendering any attack to her useless. And if that wasn't enough, the legs also regenerate, sometimes forcing you to do the whole thing again.** The final boss of the third game, [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiBowsersInsideStory Bowser's Inside Story]], is even MORE complicated. You begin the fight as Bowser. After you've dealt a certain amount of damage the boss fully heals and grows big. Then you must punch his stomach to make him spit out [[spoiler: the Dark Star core]]. Then you must suck it into Bowser's stomach where Mario and Luigi take over. Now you have to fight [[spoiler: an EldritchAbomination version of Fawful]]. His weak points are his legs and glasses, if you don't destroy the glasses first he will retract some of his legs while you are attacking. After killing his legs he will fall to the ground, revealing [[spoiler: the Dark Star core]], the boss' REAL weak point. You have approximately two turns to damage it before it escapes, and you have to REPEAT THE ENTIRE PROCESS untill he FINALLY dies. Phew.** The Final battle in [[VideoGame/MarioAndLuigiDreamTeam Dream Team]] is again of this variety. The FinalBoss is a 12 foot tall monster with the full power of the Dreamstone. Its weak point is the crystal shard in its forehead, which it'll guard with its [[CognizantLimbs right arm]] if it's not taken out first. * Lampshaded in ''VideoGame/TheSimpsonsGame'', where a cutscene shows an [[spoiler:alien saucer]] attacking the Simpsons house. It starts moving around, firing then stops, prompting Bart:-->'''Bart:''' Guys, look! The hatch opens after every four laser bursts! That's the weak spot when we need to fire!\\[[spoiler:'''Kang:''']] Hey [[spoiler:Kodos]], that ugly kid's right. Why are we exposing our weak spot every four laser bursts?\\[[spoiler:'''Kodos:''']] You're right! Why do we even need to expose our weak spot at all!?\\[[spoiler:'''Kang:''']] Thanks for the heads-up, Earth dumbass!* The basis of ''Blood of Bahamut''. The giant monsters that are the game's entire basis can only be damaged at their Cores (if you hit anywhere else, damage is along single-digit lines). Indeed, some missions are entirely to remove armor over a Gargantuan's core before you can actually fight it.* ''VideoGame/ArmyOfTwo'' has heavily armored enemies that can only be hurt from behind. The general strategy is to use the game's aggro mechanic to get them to focus on one while the other sneaks around behind them.* All bosses in ''VideoGame/LegendOfKay'' have a glowing red amulet that must be hit. The in-game justification is that those amulets enable the bad guys to enslave dangerous animals and force them to do their bidding.* The final boss in ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'' is [[spoiler:a giant terminator with a multitude of orange 'Shoot me here!' lights in place of its eyes and a big hummer on its chest. They're not the ''only'' place that will take damage, but they do take damage at a higher rate than elsewhere. In case that wasn't obvious enough, they're actually labelled as "Weak Point" on your HUD]].** The [[spoiler:Reaper]] on Rannoch is so heavily armored that it's only weak spot is the lense of it's giant laser beam, which it keeps covered until right before it fires. Since it completely jams normal targeting sensors, you have to line up a handheld targeting laser to aim for [[spoiler:the entire [[SpaceNomads Quarian fleet]] that sits in orbit]].** Brutes take more damage than usual against lightly armoured areas such as their backsides, and Husks in ''2'' die the second their legs are destroyed.** The Thorian in the first game requires you to destroy it's neural nodes.** The [[MiniMecha Atlas mechs]] and [[GiantMook Scions]] both have weakpoints. For the Atlas, the shoulders, knees, and crotch all have plating that can be shot off to stagger it and interrupt an attack in progress, as well as the giant vent on the back (although this is harder to get a bead on). Shooting the lumps on a Scion's back can have the same stagger effect. On higher levels in multiplayer, knowing this is essential.** Surprisingly enough, a [[McNinja Phantom's]] sword is the weakpoint. Hitting it with a surprisingly small number of rounds will [[BlastingItOutOfTheirHands shatter the weapon]], forcing them to back off and use their hand blaster and depriving them of their one-hit-kill weapon. Good luck hitting it, though.* In ''VideoGame/AliensVsPredator2010'', to have a real chance of beating combat synths as the marine, you need to hit them in their weakpoint -- their legs. No, really. Knocking off their head just blinds them and makes it harder for them to hit you, their torso can take absurd amounts of punishment, and although their arms would theoretically work too, they're too hard to hit in practice as they're holding guns. Aim for the legs.* Almost every enemy in ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands}}'' has some body part that will take bonus damage when hit. Soft parts like head and eyes are common targets, as are underbellies.** The sequel, ''VideoGame/{{Borderlands 2}}'' features Loaders, a robotic enemy class with an uncommon yet logical weak point--their joints. [[TruthInTelevision Just as in real life]], mechanical and electronic joints are more complex and often more delicate than the limb or body structures that they join and are more easily damaged by, say, a shotgun blast.* [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony's]] review of ''VideoGame/{{Microcosm}}'' describes the boss's weak points as "huge fuck-me lights".* In another {{Mook}} example, the Drones in ''TheConduit'' have huge red glowing orbs on their chest... but these are part of their armor and don't take more damage than anywhere else. Their weakpoint is, sensibly enough, their head -- although they can still take more punishment there than a human.* Enemies in ''VideoGame/ResonanceOfFate'' tend to have CognizantLimbs that absorb damage from a certain angle. Strong enemies and bosses can have heavily-armored parts covering most angles, but one or two lightly-armored angles that leave the main body open to attack.** And if you jump, your bullets hit random body parts. Shoot enough times with a submachine gun, and you will eventually almost completely fill up with scratch damage. Then, all you have to do is jump and attack with a direct damage weapon. No need to worry about pesky body parts after all.* ''VideoGame/RiseOfTheKasai'' has a few bosses like this. Three take the form of dragons that fly around the platform and will breathe fire at you that will instantly kill you if it hits. They're far out of reach for most of the fight and can only be sniped by arrows right before breathing fire, and then will only take damage if the arrow hits a weak point on their chest. The final boss can be stunned, but not killed, by attacking it over and over again, however, its SoulJar is floating right above it. Once again, arrow to that equals dead boss.* In all of the ''VideoGame/SilentScope'' games, the boss's weak point is always the head. Certain vehicles also have weak points, like the rotor for a helicopter and the tires of a car. This is later subverted for laughs in the third game ''Sogeki'', where the boss of Stage 3 has two. The first is obvious, his head. The second is not so obvious, his teddy bear. Shoot the teddy bear and he goes down. Though this is actually harder than it sounds, you have less than a second to shoot it when the chance presents itself.* From the ''VideoGame/WingCommander'' series:** In ''Wing Commander III'' and ''Wing Commander IV'', shots aimed at the bridge or engines of a capship do an additional 50% damage, once the shields are penetrated.** While the Kilrathi dreadnought in ''Wing Commander III'' isn't totally invulnerable, it's ''much'' more vulnerable when shooting at it inside the hangar, where there the fast-recharging shields don't protect, even compared to the extra damage given to targeting a capship's engines or bridge.** In ''Wing Commander IV'', the only way to kill the ''Vesuvius'' is to drop the [[KillItWithFire Flashpak]] in the hangar, where they don't use the quite effective armor found on the outer hull.** Played realistically in ''Prophecy'' with killing capital ships. The majority of the ship is too heavily armored and shielded for fighters to destroy them with massed fire. Instead, you have to take down their shield generators and hit the critical subsystems: Bridge and Engines. Even with those destroyed, the ship doesn't explode as in most games... it's left dead in space, with occasional secondary explosions across the hull.* A couple of bosses in VideoGame/YoshisIsland. Naval Piranha's only weak spot is a bandaged lump on its stem (presumably the "navel", although it looks more like an adam's apple). Eggs thrown at Sluggy the Unshaven just deform its outer shell without hurting it, but once its clearly-visible heart is exposed, it can be destroyed with a single strike. In both cases, [[TheDragon Kamek]] draws your attention to this, in the first case by, bizarrely, calling Yoshi a "cutie without a navel", and in the second case by announcing "[[SuspiciouslySpecificDenial This slug has no weak points!]]"** Hookbill the Koopa is defeated by knocking him down then ground pounding his stomach.* ''VideoGame/{{Bulletstorm}}'' has the usual weak spots - groin shots and headshots - but some fully mutated enemies have several glowing sacs of... um... stuff on their body. Shoot any of the sacs and the whole body will go up in a blast of orange bodily liquids. Also, the [[spoiler:plant boss]] has several weak spots to hit before it recharges its hitpoints.* ''{{Pikmin}} 2'' has the Segmented Crawbster boss, which has to be tricked into rolling into a wall to reveal the weak spot on its belly. A non-boss example would be Anode Beetles from the same game, which can be flipped over simply by throwing a pikmin directly onto its back.* In the WebGame ''VideoGame/{{Pico}}'s School'' on Website/{{Newgrounds}}, the only way to do damage to Casandra's monster form in the final battle is by [[GroinAttack targeting the dangling genitalia]] between her (or is that his?) legs.* [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] by [[ExpositionFairy Goodstyle]] from ''[[VideoGame/WarioMasterOfDisguise Wario: Master of Disguise]]''.* ''VideoGame/HeavyWeapon'' has a few bosses like this. The [[BattleshipRaid Battleship]] is weak in the control tower, [[GiantEyeOfDoom Eyebot]] was [[GoForTheEye vulnerable in the eye]] when it is open, and the SegmentedSerpent [[SandWorm Mechworm]] was weak in the head.* In ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'', the Shadyas are a type of smoke-like enemies with large, curved blades. The only way to kill them is to attack the large, red, glowing orb in their chests.* ''VideoGame/BattleTanx'' has the Rhino Tank, which is described as "A trainload of armor on front." You have to either use grenades or hit the tank from behind.* ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriorsGundam 2'' treats Mobile Armors like this: you have to strike them when and where they are vulnerable to do any damage at all. Thankfully the third game does away with this: in that Mobile Armors can be harmed at any time, but you do a lot more damage if you strike the weak points.* Capital ships in ''VideoGame/TachyonTheFringe'' have destroyable subsystems. Take out the powerplant, it can't move. Destroy the weapons generator, it can't shoot. Blow up the shield generator, and its DeflectorShields won't regenerate. There are occasions where time constraints make this mode of attack inadvisable, but they're rare.* ''Franchise/SuperMarioBros'' games have this all the time. The worst though are when the boss has a giant target basically painted on them, like the bandage on the Whomp King in ''VideoGame/SuperMario64'', the target on Topmaniac's head in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'', or the glowing/coloured lights/symbols on Megahammer in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2''. In the Gobblegut fight in ''Galaxy 2'', Bowser Jr warns Gobblegut to protect his "bellyache bulges". Just in case the player hadn't seen them...* For the final fight against Omega Supreme in [[TransformersWarForCybertron Transformers: War For Cybertron]], you first have to attack his exposed turrets, which are explicitly stated to be outside of his shields. Destroy enough of them and his shields go down and his chest becomes the vulnerable spot.* In ''VideoGame/{{Scaler}}'', the [[GiantEnemyCrab Rattlecrab]] (an [[UnexpectedShmupLevel Unexpected Shmup Boss]]) has four blue weak spots that glow red when it's going to attack. The first two are on its pincers, the third one is on its tail, and the fourth one is its mouth.* Humanoid enemies in ''Videogame/AloneInTheDark2008'' can only be killed by [[KillItWithFire igniting]] the fissures on their bodies.* In ''VideoGame/DukeNukem'', Atomic Edition, the Pig Cop riot tanks can take quite a lot of punishment and have an assortment of long and short-range weaponry. However, if you're quick enough to get behind them to [[SelfDestructMechanism press the nuclear trefold]] on the back, they self-destruct, leaving you with only the annoyed driver to deal with.* The Brawlamari and Queen Buzzerfly in ''VideoGame/KingdomHearts3DDreamDropDistance'' both have extremely conspicuous glowing orbs on their bodies that serve as the only points that can be struck to cause damage. It takes a little effort in order to get close enough to hit them, though.* The naval portion of ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedIII'' introduces ship-to-ship battles. Your ship, the ''Aquila'', can fire broadsides or use its smaller swivel cannons for precision targeting. The swivel cannons are usually only good against gunboats and are almost completely useless against bigger ships. However, if you damage a frigate enough with broadsides, this has a chance of exposing its powder magazine, which can be targeted with your swivel cannons for OneHitKill.* In ''VideoGame/AfterTheWar'', the Worm bosses can only be damaged by hitting the head. First you have to stun them, then use your sword to remove the shell and finally kill it by shooting at the thing.* The Nevi from ''VideoGame/GravityRush'' have large glowing cores that shatter when hit with a well-placed Gravity Kick. In the case of many of the larger Nevi, this is the only way to damage them.* The final boss's first form in ''VideoGame/DynamiteDux'' is composed of several spheres; its weak point is the ball [[BigBad Achacha]] is riding.* Hellbugs in the TV tie-in game [[{{VideoGame/Defiance}} Defiance]] are in general heavily armored, but the different versions all have some weak spot. The smallest skitterlings die pretty easily, but the Warrior, the next size up has only the inside of its mouth and it only opens that when it's about to attack. Matriarchs have three; the mouth, their chest when they rear up to do a smash attack, and once they've done a roll-charge attack and are recovering, vanes open and temporarily expose a weak spot at the rear. The sound your gun makes when you're hitting one of these changes from the usual pings of ricocheting bullets to a sawtoothed grinding noise to let you know you've got the right place.* All of the different types of Darkers in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStarOnline2'' have a conspicuous red core located somewhere on their bodies that serves as a weak point.* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfGraces'' striking an enemy with a move it's weak against provides you with a temporary damage bonus that fades with time or once your combo ends. It's possible to exploit multiple weaknesses on the same enemy to increase strength and duration of the bonus.** This system returns in ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2'', where it's even more crucial to combat, as bosses are unable to perform a ComboBreaker as long as the bonus is active (Something they'll do with annoyingly great frequency otherwise).* The UsefulNotes/FMTowns ShootEmUp ''Rayxanber'' helpfully describes the boss's weak point at the start of each stage.* Possibly some of the hardest enemies to defeat solo, [[BlackKnight Trojans]] from VideoGame/SpiralKnights have a massive crystal in their back. They also have a shield, which unlike the player's shield can't be broken. Said shield is always up. Also, they hit like trucks.* In ''VideoGame/SkySerpents'', the titular serpents have weak spots [[ColorCodedForYourConvenience helpfully colored purple]]. Sometimes they're inaccessible due to cover by scales, which like everything else but those purple spots are invulnerable to attack.* In ''VideoGame/RedOrchestra'', especially with the AT handguns, aiming for the ammo storage and the engine or fuel tanks is essential. Chances of penetrating front armor, even from short range is very low. In the sequel, it is possible to knock out the crew, so aiming for the armored glass also works.* In ''VideoGame/CopyKitty'', attacking Yolomacho's head deals more damage as opposed to hitting its body. This is important to know because in hard mode, you'll be hard pressed to hit its back if you don't know its weak point.* [[spoiler:Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi]] from ''VideoGame/BlazBlueChronophantasma'' has two weak points to hammer on, but neither are consistently vulnerable, and exposing one means hammering on the other. [[spoiler:First is the tongue, which serves as the main weapon; during one Distortion Drive, it will stick the cannon out and prepare to fire; attacking Take-Mikazuchi's head during this time causes damage to the tongue, and when enough damage has been issued, the Distortion will abort and cause it to fall over. Second is the core, exposed in precisely the aforementioned fashion; when the core falls into arm's reach is when the player dumps everything they've got into it, as it is much more sensitive to pain than anywhere else on its body.]]* Battleships in the ''VideoGame/SDGundamGGeneration'' series take up multiple squares on the map (for example, 3x4 or 4x5) and can be attacked anywhere in that area. Attacking a flashing square that corresponds to the bridge or some other vital system causes a "Pinpoint Attack" that does twice as much damage as usual.* ''Videogame/{{Warframe}}'' has a few examples:** Banshee's "Sonar" ability in creates critical weak points on enemies, which have a 5x damage multiplier[[note]]By default; upgrades can make it as high as 14.2x or as low as 2x[[/note]] when hit. The power also doubles as an EnemyDetectingRadar.** Certain bosses have invincible armor except for certain weak spots, such as Sargas Ruk's glowing blue heat sinks (to his credit, he tries to keep them shut) and Vay Hek's big, ugly, [[LargeHam hammy]] face.* In the game ''VideoGame/TheCatInTheHat'', boss fights with Mr. Quinn require you to attack his weak point - in this case, the exhaust pipe of his massive crab-vehicle.* Lampshaded by the final boss of ''VideoGame/SunsetOverdrive'', who complains about the presence of his own big, blinking weak spot with "Everybody knows the only reason you have a power core is so someone can ''destroy'' the power core!"* ''VideoGame/NosferatuTheWrathOfMalachi'': The only way to hurt [[spoiler:Malachi]] is to shoot him in the glowing golden orb in his ribcage.* ''VideoGame/StarWarsTheEmpireStrikesBackAtari2600'': While the Imperial Walkers normally require forty-eight hits (thirty in the Intellivision) to take down, a flashing spot will occasionally appear on the Walker, which if the player strikes it will take down the Walker with one shot.* The fight system in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'' is turn-based, with a stop-the-needle QuickTimeEvent to attack opponents, but the fight against [[HumanoidRobot Mettaton EX]] is a {{Shmup}} in which you have to fire on the projectiles coming at you; during select rounds, you can also shoot Mettaton's "heart shaped core", which the CHECK command explicitly says is his weak spot. But all shooting it does is make his arms and then his legs fall off, reducing the maximum rating you have to reach to end the battle [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext because reasons]]. If your goal is to kill him, you can still attack during your turn, and he's just as susceptible to physical attacks as any other boss because [[spoiler:his ghost soul fused with his not-actually-invulnerable body when he unveiled his human form]].* In ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 4}}'', a shot to the Fusion Core of a Sentry Bot or PoweredArmor-wearing enemy will cause it to [[GoingCritical go critical and explode]], also taking out adjacent enemies.* Hit Creature Brains to destroy minor enemies in ''VideoGame/LittleBigPlanet'', and attack the core of bosses to defeat them.** And remember to shoot the Brightly Coloured Weak Spots on the [[VideoGame/MetalGearSolid Metal Gear REX]] to defeat it.* ''VideoGame/TheWitcher2AssassinsOfKings'': The Kayran conveniently has glowing "tumors" to indicate where you should start hackin' with your silver.* Each character in ''VideoGame/OhSirTheInsultSimulator'' has a weak point in the form of an insult topic that when attacked with the right insult will deal much heavier than normal damage. [[/folder]]

[[folder:WebComics]]* The DEMONHEAD MOBSTER KINGPIN from ''Webcomic/ProblemSleuth'', after suffering the heroes' devastating [[CombinedEnergyAttack Triple Truffle Shuffle Scuffle Comb Rave Attack]]: "DMK's NETHER-REGIONAL VULNERABULB blooms, briefly exposing his WEAK SPOT."** And in a later panel: "The CRATE comes back down and clocks the WEAK SPOT for massive damage."* ''Webcomic/MSPaintMasterpieces'' hilariously referenced it. While the comic usually has ''{{VideoGame/Mega Man|Classic}}'' finishing off the Robot Masters with their [[ElementalRockPaperScissors weaknesses]], at one point a heavily damaged Mega Man, riding in a stolen [[HumongousMecha walker]] is confronted by Quick Man. After a little taunting from the latter, Mega Man makes the walker [[GroinAttack kick Quick Man in the crotch]], while he mutters to himself, "I hope...that was...his weakness..."* [[Webcomic/{{Adventurers}} Karn]] [[http://www.adventurers-comic.com/d/20060526.html yends to have trouble]] with this.* Discussed at length in ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' when Torg and Sasha face a giant monster. Sasha recommends using their one bazooka shot to hit it [[GoForTheEye in the eye]]. [[http://sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/20091207 Torg has different ideas...]]-->'''Torg:''' The big eye is ''too obvious'' a weak spot! You'll be wasting our one shot! You've got to look for a more difficult target! . . . Ah-''ha!'' There's markings on one of its teeth that resembles a bull's-eye!-->'''Sasha:''' You want me to shoot it ''in the tooth?!?''** Aylee's giant crab form is only vulnerable on her "gummi worm neck," which she's fully capable of retracting to within her NighInvulnerable shell.** Similarly, Chaz states that demon lords like Horribus can only be killed by decapitation or by plunging a magical weapon into their "soul" (which is apparently located somewhere in the middle of their chests).* Fighter in ''Webcomic/EightBitTheater''[='=]s gives us a basic rundown of this trope:-->'''Fighter:''' Oh, well weaknesses are bad. Except on bosses where you have to shoot at the core 'cause the rest of it is pure invincibility. It makes you wonder why they built a core at all, gave it no protection, and then put it where it would be exposed to intergalactic gunfire.** The trope is used more directly in an early comic, where [[http://www.nuklearpower.com/2002/09/02/episode-189-do-not-keep-creep-near-open-flames/ attacking a monster with its weakness of fire causes it to explode spectacularly]].*** also, Black Mage discovers the zombies' weakness:point blank annihilation* ''Webcomic/MagicalMina'' [[http://www.tsunamichannel.com/index.php?date=2002-06-26&comic=MaMi flips the buglike Armor living spell over on its back]] and stabs it several times in various joints on its underbelly to get it to yield and gain its powers. Perhaps a reference to ''Genji: Days Of The Blade'', though she [[SubvertedTrope was only supposed to flip it over]] to win.* The [[OurDemonsAreDifferent demons]] of ''Webcomic/{{Heartcore}}'' have two weakpoints: their brain, and their [[GemHeart Heartcore]]. The destruction of either or removal of the latter are the only ways to kill a demon.* In ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', The Goo's weak point is its [[http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2002-11-09 demon nuclei which is the size of a marble]]. Everything else is merely a shell for the nuclei and thus replaceable.* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'', the S model robots are [[http://www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=1141 shown to have red on/off buttons on their heads]], making them not much of a threat.* This phenomenon [[https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2016/01/22/real-world-applications is discussed]] in ''Webcomic/PennyArcade'', wherein Tycho refers to this weak point as the "critoris".[[/folder]]

[[folder:WebOriginal]]* In ''WebAnimation/DeathBattle'', [[spoiler:[[Franchise/StarWars Luke Skywalker]] invokes this by exploiting Literature/HarryPotter's scar as a shatterpoint.]]** While [[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda Link]]'s known for doing this, it's absent in his battle with [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Cloud]], though it's understandable. Z-targeting still makes an appearance and Link uses it to [[spoiler: block Cloud's Omnislash.]]** This actually works ''against'' WonderWoman during her battle with [[spoiler:[[ComicBook/XMen Rogue]]]]. [[spoiler: Wonder Woman's combat training taught her to strike the weak points of the human body, including the face, the only part of Rogue uncovered. This in turn allowed Rogue to absorb some of Wonder Woman's power and temporarily stun her, giving Rogue an opportunity to absorb even more of Wonder Woman's abilities and give Rogue enough power to defeat her.]]** [[MightyMorphinPowerRangers Tommy and Saba]] try this in their fight against [[Anime/MobileSuitGundamWing Gundam Epyon]] [[spoiler: Only to find out that it doesn't work on Power Rangers logic and giant green circle on it's chest is just a decoration]].* Used as a joke in ''WebVideo/VaguelyRecallingJoJo''. Magician Red's weakpoint got hit by GEB and Avdol gets severely damaged.* Tanks in ''Literature/TheSolsticeWar'' are treated like they would have been in World War 2: shoot the sides or the back if you can, because the strongest armor is on the face. However, larger guns have better penetration, and characters rightly fear a gun of 100 millimeters bore or larger for its ability to destroy tanks outright. [[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]* In ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'', all of XANA's monsters in the game-like [[{{Cyberspace}} virtual world]] have "XANA Eye" symbols (sometimes actual eyes) somewhere on their bodies. Hitting this spot will usually de-rez the monster instantly.** With the exception of Aelita's Energy Fields, which normally kill no matter where they hit the monster. [[CutscenePowerToTheMax Unless she's supposed to lose, of course.]]* The red circle on Zod's belly in ''WesternAnimation/ChallengeOfTheGoBots''.* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', when Homer and Bart enter ''Series/BattleBots'', and discuss how to beat Professor Frink's giant killing machine. Bart mentions it has a weak point, [[DescriptionCut only for him to notice]] Frink welding a comically large sheet of spiky metal over it.* In ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'', punching Mecha-Streisand's nose will drop the Diamond of Pantheos allowing Robert Smith to defeat her.* ''WesternAnimation/WinxClub'' features an example of this being undermined via editing: In the original version, we see Tecna finding the weak point of a monster, under its throat, prompting the Specialists to attack the area. In the 4kids dub, Tecna says she's found the weak point, but never says where it is, and because of what appears to be a discretion shot, we never see where the Specialists attack.* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot'', Jenny faces a member of the Cluster who Tuck and Brad were using as a snow fort before he regenerated...who has an off switch on his back, very much like the trope picture.* In ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', at episode 'Tree Trunks' the gang goes into '[[{{DarkIsEvil}}The Evil Dark Forest]]' in order to achieve the plot-device for the eponymous Tree Trunks. At the forest the group catches up with a monster of no vulnerabilities...Except it's [[http://i49.tinypic.com/znvpjt.jpg/giant gem weak spot]]. * In ''WesternAnimation/RandyCunninghamNinthGradeNinja'', the only way to destank a monster made by the sorcerer is to destroy a item they most held dear, aka their weak spot. * Tuma in ''WesternAnimation/{{Bionicle}}: The Legend Reborn'' has a brightly sparking wound on his back which he never covers despite wearing giant, movable armored blades on his back. He even spends much of his fight with Mata Nui facing away from him, standing still while bathing in the cheering of his supporters. He's defeated under seconds.* The ''[[WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresofJimmyNeutronBoyGenius Jimmy Neutron]]'' episode, "Ultra Sheen" has Sheen defeat Robo-Fiend in level one of the Ultra Lord video game by pressing the off switch on his back.* During Comicbook/BlackPanther's first encounter with the team in ''WesternAnimation/TheAvengersEarthsMightiestHeroes'', he manages to take down [[Comicbook/AntMan Giant-Man]] by striking the portions of his anatomy that are vulnerable.[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]* Tanks are almost always vulnerable from above and below, and to a lesser extent, the sides and [[http://www.simhq.com/_air/air_053j.html rear]]. Tank Destroyers and other specialized [=AFVs=] often take this further, in some cases resulting in open-topped or open-backed vehicles such as the M10 and Marder series.** It's usually difficult, if not impossible, for an infantry team to attack a tank from above. If the enemy has a good formation, attacking it from behind is difficult too. To solve this problem, the Javelin Missile Launcher was created. This is a missile that can either fire in a straight line, like most missiles, or, in an awesome display of {{Roboteching}}, travel about three feet forward and then ''straight up'' to a height between 500 and 1000 feet, before inverting and smashing down on the tank from above. The only defense against a Javelin Missile attack is to ''kill the user before he can fire it''. Or go underground (but then, the missile ''still'' fires straight if need be...).** The Molotov Cocktail was devised as an anti-tank weapon by Guomindang troops fighting the Japanese the UsefulNotes/SecondSinoJapaneseWar... or possibly by Spanish Republicans and Nationalists fighting the [[UsefulNotes/SpanishCivilWar Spanish Civil War]], though the name was given to it by Finns fighting the Soviets in the 'Winter War' of 1940-41. Tanks of the time could be disabled by pouring a flammable liquid over the (outside of) engine and setting it alight, so it was only a matter of time before someone got the bright idea of filling a bottle with petrol or spirits and putting a burning rag in the mouth. Even if the fire didn't spread into the tank itself and set its ammunition off, the fumes and smoke were would force the crew to choose between suffocating and bailing out.** During the battle of Stalingrad, Yakov Pavlov commanded a platoon that took over a apartment building (now known as Pavlov's House). They found that by placing Soviet anti-tank rifles on the roof they could actually shoot nearly straight down onto a tanks turret (with them being so high up the tank couldn't shoot back). Pavlov is said to have taken out over a dozen tanks himself this way. The fighting for the southern Grain Silo was also characterised by the defenders' ability to do this.** [[LensmanArmsRace Military ground vehicle designers are getting smarter about protection]], what with the introduction of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-hull the V-shaped hull]] to certain armored vehicles[[note]](basically, it's just taking a boxy iron car and giving it angled sides)[[/note]]. V-hulls borrow the deflecting hoo-ha used by sloped armor. In simple English, it's supposed to take most of the damage from the bad guys standing straight ahead [[note]]because most of the time, that's where you find them holding antitank weapons, anyway[[/note]] or from explosives underneath the vehicle and then point it elsewhere. What you end up with is a vehicle that's not as scratched as compared to a regular vehicle in the same situation.*** And in the case of a tank which would rather make the first move than try to resist a pounding, it's an active protection system, which goes ''way'' back in the 1970s, apparently pioneered by the Soviet Union. The first APS, codenamed the ''Drozd'', had a [[PointDefenseless point-defense problem]]: a good portion of antitank rockets still made their way through the tank and the ''Drozd'' only covered the front. Recent developments have fixed this problem, though.* Battleship deck armour in general was significantly thinner than the belt (side) armour, making them vulnerable to attack from above. Hence the [[MoreDakka ridiculously large number of anti-aircraft guns]] fitted to the last generation of battleships. Plunging fire at long range could be at least as effective than a broadside at point-blank. Hits below the belt (e.g., torpedoes) could also be fatal.** Modern torpedoes do NOT strike the ships they target. Instead, they deliberately explode underneath the ships. This causes an air bubble and causes the ship to literally break in half under its own weight.*** It didn't work in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII when they tried to use magnetic fuses to do this. ** HMS ''Hood'' provides an excellent example: her deck armor proved too thin and was pierced by a German shell with catastrophic results. Specifically, it was in a part of the armored deck a few feet from where said deck had been thickened during a refit. ''Right above the ammunition magazine.''** British aircraft carriers suffered much less severely from kamikaze attacks in the Pacific than American ones, as the British usually had armored decks, while the American had only wooden decks that could be easily smashed through by a plane.*** Generally justified. In the case of most of the more lightly-armed cruisers, destroyers, etc., the trade off was that they were faster than they would be with the full armor protection, allowing them to be able to keep up with the carriers [[note]] which to this day tend to be the fastest ships in most navies that have them[[/note]]. For the aircraft carriers, armoring the flight deck meant adding considerable structural support which effectively made the hangar deck much smaller. Most commanders would rather be able to carry more planes to destroy their attackers ''before'' they could engage the carrier rather than have some extra armor plating to deal with them once they got to them. Of course the example of the Japanese carriers at Midway demonstrates that that does not always work.*** [[InfoDump In fact]], British naval doctrine led to the armoring of their carriers due to the fact that they were designed to serve in the "cramped" waters of the Mediterranean, where no matter how many airplanes you put on them, they would always be outnumbered by the shore-based aircraft available to the enemy. The resultant armoured carriers were, compared to their American contemporaries, about two knots slower and had a smaller complement of aircraft, but in the end were a success, as the six 'Illustrious' class carriers survived everything the Germans, Italians and later the Japanese threw at them in ca. six years of wartime service. And despite the small complement of aircraft, HMS ''Illustrious'' managed to single-handedly disable three battleships and damage two cruisers in the 1940 raid on Taranto.* The German battleship ''Bismarck'' was incredibly highly armed and armored, and the greatest warship ever built at the time. A single lucky torpedo from an obsolete British biplane bomber hit and disabled the rudder, making her essentially a sitting duck. Without any support by other ships, she was attacked the next morning and had to be scuttled without causing any significant damage to the attackers.** Well armed and armoured maybe, but its design of three propeller shafts rather than four was a big flop, not only did it critically weaken the keel, (leading to the 'ability' of a single torpedo to jam the rudders), but it also made steering a pig (not helped by a really too small rudders). She was a battleship, with emphasis on the 'battle' rather than the 'ship'. She was also more vulnerable to plunging fire than contemporary British designs, which resulted in one of the shells from the Prince of Wales severing the forward fuel line. The secondary armament wasn't much good either, making it especially vulnerable to low-altitude torpedo bombers. The same issues were faced by the Scharnhorst class, though in neither case were they to prove critical, since Gneisenau was wrecked in her docks, while Scharnhorst fell to naval gunnery and torpedoes.* Most warships during the first half of the 20th century featured a citadel which contained nearly all the ships vital equipment. While at first this seems like a subversion because the citadel is the most armored area except the magazines on a warship. However piercing this area is more than worth the trouble of the armor as any shell going off within the citadel can seriously damage a ship's fighting capability and guarantees months of repairs. Case and point, the Japanese battleship Kirishima had its citadel citadel breached multiple times by the Battelship Washington but suffered comparatively little damage else where. The IJN tried to tow Kirishima to safety until it was revealed that Washington's 16 inch shells had destroyed ''all'' of the ships citadel equipment, including the pumps and fire suppression system. This left the crew with nothing to combat the minor flooding or fires she was suffering from and she had to be abandoned. * Pretty much every warship since the introduction of gunpowder has had one spectacular weak spot: the Magazine, where the powder and ammunition is stored. Usually located deep within the ship for maximum protection, if anything ''does'' penetrate to the magazine, there is a very solid chance that it will take the whole ship with it, as happened to HMS ''Hood'' in the Battle of the Denmark Strait and USS ''Arizona'' at Pearl Harbor. Other vulnerable spots include propulsion systems (the masts and rigging on a sailing ship, or the boilers and screws/paddles on a steamship). In addition to being unable to maneuver, a ship that takes a hit to the engines will also likely be unable to produce power to work the guns or water pumps, [[DisasterDominoes making it impossible to fight fires or stop flooding during battle.]]* Japanese cruisers during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII had REALLY BAD weak points. While they had decent armor, and were in fact superior to early-war American cruisers, their torpedoes proved to be their undoing. To elaborate, unlike most other countries' torpedoes, which used compressed air or chemical propellant, the Japanese torpedoes used [[MadeOfExplodium oxygen]] , which roughly translates to highly volatile if hit by a shell or bomb. One of the most notable examples of this happening was during the Battle off Samar, where three of these very cruisers were more or less destroyed/sunk when American 5-inch guns and torpedoes/bombs managed to score lucky hits on the torpedo tubes. Even more impressive, the escort carrier White Plains used its single 3-inch gun to disable the heavy cruiser Chokai with a lucky strike on its torpedo rack. This is the only time a carrier has ever destroyed a warship with surface fire.* GroinAttack in a sparring match.** There are many spots on the human body that remain vulnerable to simple attacks of people's hands and feet, no matter what sort of training you do -- like, [[EyeScream your eyes]]. ButWaitTheresMore! The throat, the nose; really, the head in general...** Most of these are justified by the function of the body part in question. Testicles must be on the outside to enable them to be cooler than the rest of the body; if they were kept inside, the body heat would reduce fertility. Eyes can't be shielded very much or they can't see as well. And so on.** As pointed out by William E. Fairbairn (who, as a policeman in one of the deadliest [[WretchedHive Wretched Hives]] of the world, had plenty of experience of both giving and receiving blows), weak points of the body defy the very concept of fighting with martial art techniques: attacking the eyes, nose, larynx, plexus or groin can quickly end the fight, with the opponent into the hospital or the grave. Most systems of fighting, from boxing to the least educated brawling, use moves which are painful, but not very efficient, like strikes to the jaw or forehead (it takes the force of a trained boxer to break either of them), ribcage, upper arm, thigh or tibia. Modern military-based martial arts, such as the Israeli UsefulNotes/KravMaga or the US Marine Corps' MCMAP, focus almost entirely on ending the fight as quickly as possible, as so focus on weak points and using whatever you have to fight with (rifle, knife, shovel).** All of the traditional martial arts have the movesets that design to kill or maim the opponents are like this. Aside of attacking the weak points as mentioned above, there is also technique to strike or manipulate the joints and striking the soft organ parts such as kidney or solar plexus.* Most cats HATE tummy rubs because their instinct is to protect their vulnerable tummies. [[strike:A cat rolling over and showing you its stomach is a sign of trust.]] Sometimes, if feeling threatened, the cat will roll over on its back to better wield its claws in a stance that basically says "don't come any closer". If the threat does come closer, the cat can then strike with its fangs and four sets of claws at the same time. On the other hand, when they are feeling safe and surrounded by trustable loved ones, they will sometimes instinctively roll over and expose their bellies as a display of this trust and love, as if to say, "I totally don't think you're going to try and kill me, bro." Want to show your cat some serious cat-language affection? When they do this, pet their heads; for cats, that's the friendliest way to acknowledge the relationship, whereas actually petting their bellies is like saying, "oh, you acknowledge me as your superior in the social structure, huh? Yeah, you better!"** The same goes for dogs, in that if a dog shows you its belly, it trusts you. On the other hand, if the dog rolled over first (or if the dog is lying on you in a way that it's impossible to tell whether or not it has in fact rolled over), dogs are generally very happy with such rubs. Oh, dogs...* Predatory animals typically attack the throat or belly of their prey, as the front of the neck contains vital airways and blood vessels, while the belly is less well-protected by bone than other parts of the torso.* Safes, of all things, have weakpoints where their defense is intentionally lower. Naturally, their location is a guarded secret and not advertised.** Although a [[JustForPun safe]] bet is to turn the safe on its side and try and crack the bottom.* By the early Renaissance, plate armor had become so good at protecting the wearer that they were nearly immune to anything up to and including musket fire. The standard way to kill someone was to beat them with something heavy until they were knocked to the ground (the poleaxe or warhammer were popular choices for this), then stab a thin, pointy dagger into the joints, or through the [[EyeScream slots in their visor]].** This is where the phrase "chink in the armor" comes from - the joints were notable weak spots for the dagger.** Even the strongest plate armour was vulnerable to the point of a warhammer, which was a weapon specifically designed to punch through it with massive leverage. Also, it was during this time that the plate armour reached its maximum weight, beyond which the warrior had no chance of actually fighting in one, resulting in their phase out during the following two hundred years.* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOe5Lmyyxiw This video]] of ants attacking a [[GiantEnemyCrab crab]] for food. The ants managed to do this by probing the crab for weak points in its armour then attacking them.** Also by chewing its eyes out and also PRYING ITS GODDAMN MOUTH OPEN and sending ants inside.* The field of social engineering came about as a method of attacking the weak point inherent in every digital security system: [[HumansAreMorons the people who use it.]] There's no better method of getting a password than convincing somebody that they should give it up.* Wooden sailing vessels were vulnerable at the bow and stern both because the guns were pointing elsewhere and the attackers shot could go all the way down the deck causing more mayhem per round. Hence the tactic of "crossing the T", where the attacker attempts to broadside an opponent down their length.* Armies are vulnerable in the flank and rear, because the enemy is expecting them from a different direction, because the attackers can concentrate on a weaker force, and because supply lines are vulnerable. Also the borders between unit jurisdictions are a vulnerable spot.* The first thing any hunter of game will learn how to do is to fire their weapon at the most vulnerable areas of the animal's body, typically somewhere in the center mass or the head for either a heart or brain shot. Dropping the animal immediately not only reduces the chance of the animal fleeing or charging, but also humanely ends the animal's life with no or the absolute minimum of suffering.* A tarantula hawk wasp targets a tarantula's belly because it is less armored than the rest of it. It will flip the spider on its back or attack when it rears up to attack. [[/folder]]